School of Rock: The Second Generation
by MovieFan747
Summary: The kids from School of Rock are all 35 years old... and they each have a kid! Our fave band have moved on and forgotten each other. What happens when their kids get bitten by the music bud, and end up meeting?
1. Hmm summer camp?

School of Rock: The Second Generation

Disclaimer: I don't own School of Rock. I wish! Nor do I own any of the characters, or the actors, or anything like that. (Although I wouldn't mind owning Kevin and Joey...) The only thing I own are the new characters in this story.

Summary: The kids from School of Rock are all 35 years old... and they each have a kid! Our fave band people have given up on their music and their band, have lost contact, and never speak of it. But what happens when their kids start to get an itch for the rock 'n roll business, too? Plus, what happens when their children meet up?

Chapter One: Hmm... summer camp?

Zack Mooneyham, a successful criminal lawyer, strode down the stairs of his posh New Jersey home one Monday morning in early May. Entering the kitchen, he found the best sight in the world: his wife, Jennifer, and his 12-year-old son, Jordan. Jennifer was cooking something on the stove that smelled tantalizingly of pancakes, and his son was reading a magazine and drinking orange juice at the kitchen table.

"Morning!" said Zack. His family looked up happily.

"Hey Dad, c'mere a sec!" called Jordan, waving his father over. Zack made his way to his chair across the table from his son. Settling himself in it, he peered at his son's magazine. "What are you looking at?"

"It's this brochure for this awesome summer camp!" Jordan exclaimed excitedly. He pushed it across the table at his father. Zack picked it up.

"Camp Rock," he read off the front cover. "What is this, a camp for budding geologists?"

"Come on, Dad!" sighed Jordan. "It's a rock band camp! Please, please can I go?"

Rock band. The words hit Zack somewhere in the region of his naval. His thoughts flew to his years at Horace Green Prep in Long Island. He'd had such a good time with his fellow bandmates in their band, School of Rock. But he didn't need to reminisce just then. He had to be in court in forty-five minutes.

Jennifer set a large stack of pancakes on the table. "There you go, boys," she said, "get 'em while they're hot."

Stabbing two with his fork, Jordan began complaining. "Please Dad! Honestly, you know how much I love the guitar! What have you got against it, anyway? You barely even wanted to let me take lessons!"

What did he have against the guitar? wondered Zack. It had practically ruined his life, that was what.

"Didn't you have a passion when you were my age, Dad?" asked Jordan. "Something you just had to do, no matter what?"

Ouch. Low blow there, thought Zack. But of course, his son didn't know that. He didn't even know about Zack's old band.

"You know, I do think it would be a good idea," stated Jennifer. "After all, nobody at his school appreciates music. It might be good for him to be around others with his similar interests."

That did it. He just couldn't disagree with his wife. Plus, this was Jordan's choice. Maybe the guitar wouldn't wreck his son's life, too. He should be able to find out for himself. "Fine, you can go," sighed Zack.

"Yeah!" cheered Jordan. "Camp Rock!"

********************************

Freddy Jones leafed through the mail that had tumbled onto his New York apartment's doormat. Bill. Bill. Bill. Some letter inviting his wife, Keisha, to some benefit or another. Bill. Newspaper. Magazine from some rock band camp, addressed to his daughter Marissa. Keisha's Maclean's magazine... wait. Magazine from a rock band camp? For Marissa? What in hell?

"Marissa!" thundered Freddy. His 12-year-old daughter, her blond hair twirled up into two buns on the top of her head, sauntered into the living room. 

"What's up, Dad?" she asked.

"Explain this," he demanded, thrusting the magazine into her hands. 

"Oh..." her voice trailed off. "I sent away for it in music class last month."

"And you actually believe you're going to this... this..." he paused, reading the name on the front, "this Camp Rock?"

"Yeah," Marissa said simply.

"Oh, really?" said Freddy, raising his eyebrows. 

"Mom's already paid for it, don't worry. Besides, it'll get my 'noisy drums' out of the house for a month. You've only threatened to chuck them out twelve times this week anyway."

"You're not going," Freddy decided, "end of discussion."

"Yeah, I am. Gods, Dad, you're such an uptight stiff. Weren't you ever at least a bit loose?" she asked.

Grimacing, Freddy remembered all too well how "loose" he used to be. It had cost himself, not to mention other people, a heck of a lot. No way did he want to remember that. 

"Your mother already paid, you say?" he asked.

"She did, so you don't have to worry about spending any of your precious business-man paycheque on me," Marissa told him sassily. "I'm going, Mom already said."

"Fine, you're going," said Freddy shortly. "Just don't expect me to turn up on Parent's Day."

"We could not be more different," muttered Marissa, wandering away, back to her room. It was as if the conversation hadn't even fazed her.

Trust me, dear, Freddy thought to himself, when I was your age, we couldn't have been more alike. 

********************************

All around the eastern part of the United States, five more families were having very similar conversations. None of the parents wished their children to attend Camp Rock, but the children were dead set on it. Eventually, each parent consented. 

This is how the twelve-year old children of Zack, Freddy, Katie, Lawrence, Tomika, Marta, and Alicia came to arrive at Camp Rock on Long Island on July 2nd.

A/N: Read and review! More reviews, more chapters! Trust me, this is going somewhere!


	2. Meet the boys

A/N: Wow, I posted this story just last night, and I already have nine reviews!! *Does happy dance* I'm so honoured. Because you nine were my first-ever reviewers, I've added a special thank-you to each of you at the bottom of this chapter. Anyway, hope Chapter 2 meets your standards!

Chapter Two: Meet the boys

July 2nd dawned a warm, sunny summer day. The perfect day for kids to attend summer camp. Rory Johnson, the twelve-year-old son of Katie, was among the first campers to arrive at Camp Rock, and was the first of our School of Rock friends' children. Rory, a tall, slightly gawking-looking boy, stood at the entrance of his cabin awkwardly. There were six boys to a cabin, with eight cabins situated around a clear, pristine lake. The seven girls' cabins, also holding six each, were on the other side of the camp, on the edge of the forest.

Although Rory had begged his mother countless times to allow him to go to Camp Rock, he felt slightly unsure when he was there at last. He had always been a shy boy - Katie had only agreed to let him go to camp in the hopes that he'd become more social. 

"Here you go, Rory," Katie said, coming up the steps with his duffel bag.

"Thanks, Mom," he whispered quietly, clutching his bass guitar case tightly.

"Now," she said, bending down and looking him in the eye, "I want you to go and have fun. No worrying about your pet dog, no worrying about your friends back in New York, and no worrying about me. Yes, I know you worry about me," she continued, seeing his surprised face, "I know that you're upset about me staying home by myself in that apartment without you. Well, don't be. Things will be fine."

Rory reached up and grabbed his mom in a tight hug. "I won't, Mom," he whispered. Then, seeing a man and his son approaching the cabin, Rory pulled back and ran a hand through his black hair. "I mean, you know, see you later," he added loudly.

Katie smiled and winked at him. "See you, bud," she said. Katie stepped out the cabin door and passed a man and his son on the front porch. She nodded politely at Jordan and Zack, hopped down the steps, and made her way out to the parking lot.

Rory stood around uncertainly as Zack wished Jordan a good time. After Zack left, Rory and Jordan stood looking at each other uncertainly. Jordan was the first to break the silence.

"Hey, I'm Jordan," he said. "Guitar."

Rory smiled. "Rory, bass," he replied. 

Jordan moved towards one of the three bunk beds. "You want top bunk or bottom?" he asked. Rory was surprised at how open and friendly this new boy was. He just assumed that they'd bunk together only seconds after meeting each other. But he wasn't going to complain - it was nice to have a friend to start the month off with.

"Uh, bottom," decided Rory. The two boys began to unpack.

"So, where are you from?" asked Jordan.

"New York," replied Rory.

"Wow, right downtown?" Jordan said, impressed.

"Yeah."

"I'm from New Jersey," Jordan told him.

"I've never been there. What's it like?" asked Rory.

"It's all right. Pretty tame. Nothing compared to your city," said Jordan.

Just then, the front door banged open. In it stood a tall, gangly Chinese boy of about twelve. He made his way into the cabin, looking around. "Wow, what a rat trap," he commented. He tossed his duffel bag up onto one of the other bunks and finally seemed to notice that there were other guys in the room with him. "Hey," he said.

"Hey," replied Jordan and Rory.

"I'm Aaron Stewart - keyboardist," he told them.

"Jordan Mooneyham, guitar."

"Rory Johnson, bass."

"Well, we've got our right little own band here, now don't we?" said Aaron sarcastically. "All we need are some drums."

The other boys laughed. "Where are you from?" asked Rory, lamely attempting at conversation.

"Connecticut," replied Aaron. As Aaron began unpacking, he kept up a rambling one-sided conversation. "I'm so looking forward to this, you know? I mean, my old man didn't even want me to go, he's all 'you could do so much better' and I'm like, 'whatever, Dad', and we got into this huge fight. But I think it'll be cool here, I mean, we get to play rock all month long! Plus, no parents to complain that we're playing too loudly! And the chicks in this place, man, have you seen some of them? There's this totally hot blond chick I saw coming in with her parents, and I noticed a really cute black girl walking around the quad. I'd be really excited about all this if I didn't have a girlfriend back home. Her name's Holly, and has the best set of legs I've ever seen. But she's away in Europe this summer, so what's she to know if I, er... make new friends while I'm here?" he finished, grinning wickedly.

Rory blinked at him. "I've never heard someone talk so fast in my life," he said, slightly awed.

"We're gonna have a blast this summer," decided Jordan.

Slowly three other boys trickled in: Kyle, a singer, Nathan, another guitarist, and Jesse, a drummer. The six boys found each other, while a little different, interesting, and spent the remainder of the afternoon talking about their instruments, rock music, and girls. Then, the bell rang from the dining hall, and the boys trooped off together for dinner. 

A/N: And there you have it! Next chapter is how the girls meet. Just wanted to drop off a thank you to my nine reviewers...

Jules: Thank you so much! I will!

Blondie0276: Thanks, I'll update as often as I can... enjoy chapter 2!

RockinBassGirl: Wow, you're so enthusiastic! I'll write as much as I can... chapter 3 should be here soon!

wyverna: Well, Freddy turned out all business-man-stiff because of something that happened when they were 17... in fact, something happened to each of them when they were 17... but this will be revealed in due time, don't worry.

SpAaZyMcGeE12388: I love your name! :) I'm getting sick of all those new-drummers-with-crushes-on-Freddy stories too, so I felt the urge to write this one. Hope you like the rest of it!

Swimmerkitti: I'll do my best to see this story through till the end, I promise.

quitesirius: Your name's awesome, are you a Harry Potter fan too? It was hard writing serious!Freddy, it's so not... him. I try and throw as many discreet comments (like the one about Freddy not liking the drums) in as I can, I think it's fun. Hope you liked chapter 2!

Jenny: As you know, I've already continued. Hope you liked it!

TheCheezHead: Yeah, the band members are pretty closed-minded about the whole rock thing right now. Don't worry, I'll loosen them up again in time. Something happened in their past that caused the band to break up, and caused things to disintegrate in their lives one by one. I'll let you all know in due time why the band broke up.

Read and review... you know you want to!

  
  



	3. Introducing the Girls

A/N: 9 reviews on Chapter Two - I'm so excited! Thank you so much, guys, this means a lot to me! There's a comment for each of you at the bottom of this chapter. Also, I've made up a lot of last names for the girls, seeing as their mothers would take on new last names when they married... plus the fact that I didn't know what they were in the first place. Just to clear anything up, our SoR bandmates are: Zack Mooneyham, Katie Johnson, Freddy Jones, Lawrence Stewart, Summer Hathaway-Hawkins, Tomika Davidson, Marta Taylor, and Alicia Jennings. Hope that clears up any confusion! Read away!

Chapter Three: Introducing the Girls

While all of this was going on, a commotion had started in the parking lot. Freddy had been attempting to park his car when, purely by accident, he ended up rear-ending a red station wagon. He grimaced, hopped out of his car, and made his way towards the bumper. Thankfully, he hadn't even left a scratch.

"I'm so sorry, ma'am!" he called to Marta Taylor, who was seated inside the car.

She came out and inspected the car herself. Noticing the lack of damage, she smiled at him. "Don't worry about it," she told him. Marta removed her daughter Leah's suitcase from the trunk and, giving Freddy and Marissa a smile, headed towards the quad with her daughter.

"Smooth move, Dad," said Marissa, smiling slightly.

"That's enough out of you," replied Freddy. "Are you sure you don't want me to come help you settle into your cabin?"

"Please, Dad, there's no need to embarrass me," Marissa exclaimed, furrowing her brow. "I'll just find my cabin assignment, make my way over there, and spend a wonderful month banging on my drums."

"So long as I don't hear you banging your drums all the way back in our apartment," he chuckled. Giving her a quick hug (which she managed to brush off quite quickly) he climbed back into his car and drove away.

Marissa, drumsticks and duffel bag in hand, started down the path that led to the quad. Surely the bunk assignments would be posted there.

She was right. Two large pieces of coloured bristol board were tacked to the side of the mess hall. One was labelled creatively "Girls" and the other, "Boys". Smirking slightly, she ran her gaze down the list. There she was - Girls Cabin 3. There were to be five other girls in her cabin - Carmen, Leah, Nicole, Hailey, and Jenna. 

Marissa made her way towards Cabin 3, located just outside a dense clump of trees. She trooped up the steps and made her way inside. It was clear to her at once that the other five girls were already there. They looked up and smiled at her when she entered, but nobody said anything. 

A little awkwardly, she said, "Hey, girls. I'm Marissa Jones, drummer."

A small black girl, adorned with glasses and braces, said, "Hey. I'm Nicole Jennings, but everyone calls me Nikki. I'm a vocalist."

"I'm Leah Taylor, singer - haven't I seen you before?" asked the blond, pixy-like girl.

Marissa laughed. "Yeah, my Dad was the guy who ran into your car." Leah smiled at the memory.

"I'm Carmen Davidson, yet another singer," a slightly larger black girl introduced herself.

A very short, very happy looking brunette exclaimed, "Hi, I'm Hailey, a guitarist! I'm so excited!"

"Me too," said Marissa, smiling at her.

The last girl was the most different-looking. She had black hair dyed red at the tips, dark kohl surrounding her even darker eyes, and what appeared to be - tattoos? - covering her forearms. "S'up?" she said, nodding her head at Marissa.

"Are you Jenna?" asked Marissa, a little nervous, for what had to be the first in her life.

"I have to be, don't I? Nobody else here's named Jenna."

"Right," Marissa giggled slightly, out of nerves.

The other five girls were already unpacking. It appeared there was only one bunk left - the bottom one, below Jenna. Not really caring where she slept at that point, Marissa flopped onto it. The six girls chatted amicably - well, five of them did. Jenna sat on her top bunk, strumming her bass slightly. After only fifteen minutes of conversation, Marissa had learned that they were all twelve years old, except for Hailey, who was thirteen, and that, like her, Nikki, Jenna, and Hailey were from New York, Leah was from New Jersey, and Carmen was from Connecticut.

"This summer is gonna be so much fun!" bounced Hailey. She certainly seemed to be the liveliest one of the bunch. "My parents both play guitar and came to this camp when they were our age - they had their first date at the end-of-month dance here! How cool is that?"

Marissa nodded, "Wow - that's awesome."

"My Dad was sort of 'yeah, whatever you want' about this camp, but my mom - man, she nearly blew a fuse when she heard that I wanted to go. I spent at least two months trying to convince her that it would actually help my voice," Leah told them.

"Weird - my mom didn't want me to come, either!" exclaimed Carmen.

"Mine either!" Nikki told them.

"Neither did my Dad! He was dead set against it," Marissa told them, surprised.

But before they could get into further details about their families, the bell rang for dinner. The five girls stood up and made their way out the door. Marissa poked her head back in a second later. "Jenna - are you coming?" she asked uncertainly.

"Do I have a choice?" replied Jenna moodily. Not wanting to spend too much time with this girl, Marissa jumped down the three steps off the porch and ran to catch up with the other girls. Jenna was certainly a hardcore rocker chick, but she seemed a little too weird for Marissa's taste.

A/N: Well? You like? Next chapter coming ASAP, I promise! And a thank you to my reviewers...

tmrwspromise: Nice name! I'll update as often as I can, promise! Glad you like it!

Jenny: Hello again! You assumed correctly - how do you like the girls? Jenna was fun, I always love creating a "bad" character. I, too, wish I could go to Camp Rock! Do you play an instrument?

Waterbug7: You, too, assumed right - Aaron is indeed Lawrence's son. While a lot of the kids are like their SoR parents (ie Marissa) there are a few (Aaron, and Carmen will be) who are actually rather different.

Krazy Kay: Thank you!! :)

flatfoot-92: I will!! Chapter 4 is already in the works!

electricxrain: Two reviews from you! Your birthday is July 2nd? How cool is that! We'll have to visit Camp Rock then! Lol. No, sadly Rory has never met you when you're on a sugar high, but he has met me, and I'm sure that they're fairly similar. :)

JustVisitingUKgirl: Love your name! Yeah, Freddy is boring... but never fear, Freddy lovers, he'll get better! I thought about making some of the band members marry each other, but that didn't work with my fic. Maybe another one... oh, and there were some past romances which I'll be sure to inform you about, and also some new ones involving the kids! So stay tuned!!

SpAaZyMcGeE12388: Hello again! I will, I will!

Just hit that little button down there... you know you can't resist!


	4. It's time to rock!

A/N: I don't know if this chapter is any longer than the rest... I tried, anyway. If not, oh well. Hope nobody minded my "notes" page that I posted earlier today... hopefully it cleared some things up. Also, just so everyone knows, I'm a vocalist, not an instrumentalist, so if whatever I make the band play sounds completely stupid or is way to hard for them, sorry! But I tried. Oh, and if nobody likes Mr. Lemming, don't worry - he won't be around for long! *evil laugh*

Chapter Four: It's time to rock!

The mess hall was loud. But loud was how Nikki liked it. Loud held energy, and passion, in her opinion. A piece of what appeared to be garlic bread whizzed past her ear. All right, loud was one thing - utter chaos was another.

The chaos was short-lived, however, because a tall, middle-aged woman with red-rimmed glasses climbed up the steps to the stage at the front of the building. She adjusted the microphone to her height and cleared her throat. Not one kid even took notice. The lady decided not to sit by and watch the campers endanger themselves with bread any longer. "QUIET!!!" she cried into the mike. The campers' chatter faded off, and the bread returned to their plates.

"Thank you," she began. "Welcome to the 38th year of Camp Rock!" The kids all cheered enthusiastically.

"Now," she said. "My name is Ms. O'Keefe. I am the director of Camp Rock. My office is the blue building right next door, so if you need anything, please don't hesitate to come find me.

"When you return to your cabins this evening, you counselors will have a list that assigns you to a band. Each band is composed of six members - a guitarist, a bassist, a keyboardist, a drummer, and two singers. On the list is also the building your band will be practicing in, and who your director is. There are 15 bands, so each band cannot practice at the same time. Bands 1 through 8 will practice from 9:30 - 11:30 am, and bands 9 through 15 will practice from 2 - 4 pm. When your band is not rehearsing, you are free to swim or play sports or whatever you choose."

Nikki smiled. She was sure she'd like this camp. As Ms. O'Keefe returned to her seat, Girls Table 3 chatted excitedly.

"I hope some cute guys end up in my band," Carmen said excitedly, "like that kid over there... see him? With the black hair? I think he's a guitarist." She pointed over at Boys Table 5.

"He is pretty cute, but I like the Chinese guy beside him, with the spiky hair," Leah said, smiling. Nikki glanced around at all the different boys at that table. They were certainly the best-looking ones in the camp. She had to admit that all of them looked equally good.

"We're allowed to name our bands, right?" asked Jenna, frowning. "I don't want some lame-assed name like Band 11 or whatever."

"Nah, we can name them," Hailey, who had been at Camp Rock the previous year, told them.

"Good," nodded Jenna.

*************************************

At nine-thirty the next morning, Band 8 assembled in the staff rec hall. They spent the first fifteen minutes shoving furniture aside and setting up equipment. All the while they were sweating profusely. While it was a nice temperature outside with a gentle breeze, the staff lounge seemed to trap all of the heat, and none of the breeze. Then in walked a young man in his twenties. His hair was blond, shaggy, and curly all at once. He was wearing jeans and a green t-shirt.

"Hey guys!" he exclaimed. "I'm Mr. Lemming, your band director. So... who've we got here?"

"I'm Jordan Mooneyham," Jordan introduced himself.

Aaron looked up from where he was fiddling with his keyboard. "I'm Aaron Stewart," he said, winking at Nikki, who was eyeing him. In turn, she giggled.

"Hi, I'm Rory Johnson," said Rory, plugging into his amp.

From behind the drums, Marissa tilted her chin at Mr. Lemming. "Marissa. Jones," she told him.

"I'm Nikki Jennings," piped up Nikki.

"I'm Carmen - Davidson," she added into the mike.

"Nice to meet everyone," said Mr. Lemmings. "Now that we're all acquainted, I'd like to hear what you can do. Everybody know 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'?"

All six of them had very similar expressions on their faces - disgust.

"Duh - I learned it when I was, like, four," said Aaron.

"Well, I'd like to see what you can do with it," Mr. Lemming told them. "All right, Aaron, give me a C with the E overtop - move those as we progress." Aaron nodded, still looking skeptical.

"Rory, give me a repeated C, switching to a G on the 'little lamb' part. Marissa, some bass-cymbal work should be good. Jordan, you know the melody - play it with attitude!" The instrumentalists moved their fingers to the correct spots, waiting.

"Carmen, we'll start with you soloing on two verses, then we'll break for Jordan and Rory, who'll do a sort of echo duet, then we'll give Aaron a keyboard verse or two, then we can have Marissa take over, followed by Nikki closing us up for two verses. This is just to let me get a feel for where you guys are musically," instructed Mr. Lemming. "1, 2, 3, 4!"

He counted them in, and the band began. After playing what Mr. Lemming instructed, they broke off. You could read disappointment all over their faces. Sure, they had played well, and they were all in synch. But really, 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'? That wasn't rock, that was preschool!

"Sounds great, you guys!" smiled their director. "Jordan, you really seemed to get into the song." Jordan couldn't help letting out a very quiet snort of disbelief.

"Now... let's try expanding our vocalists on something more challenging... how about 'I'm a Little Teapot'?"

*************************************

Band 8 left the rec hall at 11:30, instruments in tow. They were all shocked at how their rehearsal had turned out. 

"That was the most pathetic thing I've ever done," Carmen complained.

"I know! Nursery rhymes? Totally lame," agreed Aaron.

"Hey, guys, Mr. Lemming seems nice. Maybe tomorrow will be better," suggested Rory quietly.

"Nice? Nice and boring, you mean," groaned Jordan.

"Calm down, guys. Look, there's a concert at the end of the summer - we can't play nursery rhymes then! If things don't get better, we'll just... rehearse on our own in the afternoons," decided Nikki.

"Okay," they agreed.

The six reached the quad. The girls turned left for their cabin, and the guys turned right towards theirs.

"Hey - Nikki!" called a male voice. She turned around and saw Aaron jogging towards her. She waved her friends on down the path, standing alone until he reached her side.

"What's up?" she asked, nervously running a hand through her hair. Man, he really was cute.

"Listen, um..." he paused. "Tell that blond girl in your cabin... what's her name? Liza? Lisa?"

"Leah?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's it," he said smoothly. "Can you tell her that I'll be at the lake this afternoon if she decides to drop by?"

"Oh... sure," agreed Nikki, crestfallen. Of course a cute guy talks to her at camp... to ask out her friend!

"Thanks!" said Aaron, and he jogged down the path to his cabin.

A/N: Just wanted to thank one more reviewer...

chocl8chps: Glad my side note helped. Yes, I did invent Katie's last name as well, because the only people's names we actually know are Zack's, Freddy's, and Summer's (I found that quite interesting, to be honest...) You know, I didn't even think about making Rory's father significant, but now that you mentioned it, I came up with an idea that I think is pretty good (I think so, anyway). Thanks for the help!


	5. Substitute teacher time

A/N: Glad everyone liked the last chapter! You know, I wasn't going to update tonight cause I have so much homework, but I had a really awful day and this just seems to make it a bit better. So, here you are! It's a bit shorter than usual, but I tried. Also, I've had soooo many requests for Rory's father to be Freddy, it's weird... this story wasn't originally going to be Freddy/Katie, in fact, I had something else planned. I'm going to stick to my original plan, but it's interesting, so hopefully those Freddy/Katie shippers out there won't hurt me *hides from tomatoes*. After this fic is over, if I get enough requests, I might try my hand at Freddy/Katie. We'll see.

Chapter Five: Substitute teacher time

Later that afternoon, all of the Band 8 members, plus Leah, ended up meeting down at the lake. The water, while a little cool due to the early summer, was a nice clear blue and the sun was shining brightly. The girls got there first and managed to find a large open place where they could lay down their beach towels. Carmen, Leah, Marissa, and Nikki lay down in that order and peeled off their bathing suit coverups. Carmen, the largest girl of the four (but not by much) was surprisingly the first to whip off her coverup. Underneath she wore an orange and yellow one-piece bathing suit that sort of faded into each other. Marissa, fearless as usual, was wearing black boy shorts and a red halter with a while skull on the back. Nikki had a green tankini on with black palm tree silhouettes. Leah, the prettiest of the four, wore a pale blue bikini which spelled out "LEAH" in bubbly silver letters across the bottom. After admiring each others' swimsuits, the four lay out on their towels.

"Time to perfect my tan," joked Carmen, who was as dark as ever.

"If anyone needs a tan, it's me," claimed Nikki, pinching her belly, "I'm as white as a polar bear."

At that moment they heard a long wolf whistle. Shading their eyes from the sun, they were able to make out the forms of three boys approaching them. When the boys got a bit closer, they saw that it was Jordan, Rory, and Aaron. It was, of course, Aaron that had whistled.

"Ladies!" he proclaimed. "Looking good!"

"Calm yourself, Stewart," Carmen told him.

Noticing Leah was on the end of the four, Aaron immediately claimed the spot next to her as his own. "How you doin'?" he asked smoothly.

"I'm all right," she replied.

Rory and Jordan lay out their towels next to Aaron, and the eight of them sat around talking for about a half an hour. After a while, the conversation turned to the name of their band.

"We've gotta change our name," Jordan said, "Band 8 is so uncool."

"That's for sure," agreed Nikki.

"Anybody got any ideas?" asked Carmen.

"How about... the Chick Magnets?" suggested Aaron, winking at Leah. She rolled her eyes. "Um, hello, notice that there are just as many girls in this band as guys, since I'm not in yours. You might want to reconsider," she said.

"All right... how about... Bright Side?" offered Jordan.

"Nah, too cheesy,"said Nikki.

"Pig Rectum?" said Marissa. Everyone raised their eyebrows at her. "I'm joking!" she added quickly, laughing.

"Eclipse," Rory said quietly. Nobody but Jordan heard him at first.

"What was that?" asked Jordan.

Going a little red, Rory repeated, "Eclipse." Smiles started to appear.

"I like that. It's mysterious, yet catchy," Marissa said.

"Wait - isn't there some other band called Eclipse?" wondered Leah.

"Who cares? It's not like we're putting out an album," reasoned Aaron.

"What does everybody say?" asked Nikki. Nods came from every direction. "All right! Eclipse it is!" 

***************************************

The next morning dawned foggy and cooler than the previous two days. Nevertheless, the band members of Eclipse traipsed through the woods until they reached the staff lounge. Mr. Lemming wasn't there when they arrived, which they all thought to be a good thing. He was so lame, they didn't know how much more of it they could take.

They spent twenty minutes chatting and setting up, and then sat around waiting for Mr. Lemming to appear. Once an hour had rolled by without a sign of their director, Jordan decided to take charge.

"Okay, guys," he said. "This is the perfect time to try something that he probably won't let us do at all. Does everyone know 'Sunshine of your Love' by Cream?"

It appeared that everyone except Marissa did. Nikki assured her that it really was quite simple, and that after hearing them play a few bars of it, she'd surely recognize it. Marissa agreed to give it a try, warning them that if she didn't know it, she'd make up whatever came into her head. Laughing, Jordan counted them in.

After hearing only three bars of it, Marissa joined in. It appeared she did know it, if only vaguely. In the middle of the second chorus, the door opened and in walked... Ms. O'Keefe. The band broke off immediately.

"Where's Mr. Lemming?" asked Rory.

"Actually, Mr. Lemming came down with a horrible case of mono yesterday evening and will not be returning to Camp Rock," she paused expectantly, as if waiting for a loud chorus of groans. Silence. A little flustered, she continued. "So, that means we've had to find a replacement for him for the remainder of the month. Now, I know you all must be very disappointed," again a pause, and again, nothing, "but the man we've found really is quite satisfactory. He's a little older than Mr. Lemming, in his mid-fifties. But despite his age, he really knows what he's talking about, and he's very passionate about rock music. He works well with children, so I feel that he should be a marvelous substitute. In fact, he was actually part of one of the more popular bands before you were born - have any of you heard of 'School of Rock'?"

Not a flicker of recognition passed over their faces. "School of Rock? Kind of a lame name, isn't it? What were they, ten years old or something?" laughed Aaron.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Ms. O'Keefe told them. "They were marvelous - I myself got to hear them in concert one time. If you're lucky, maybe your new director will play you the CD that they recorded."

"So where is this guy, anyway?" Marissa wanted to know. He sure had caught the curiosity of every band member.

"He's just waiting outside... I told him I'd come in first and give him a proper introduction," she told them.

"Yeah, well, you've built him up to be really impressive, but we don't even know his name," reasoned Nikki.

"You new director will be -" 

But Ms. O'Keefe was cut off by the door to the staff rec hall opening once more. In stepped a middle-aged man. He was large with brown hair that was just starting to turn gray. Despite the heat inside the staff lounge, he was wearing brown pants, a long-sleeved shirt, a bow tie, and a red scarf flung over his shoulders.

"Students!" he exclaimed. "I'm your new band directory, Dewey Finn."

A/N: I'm sure more than one of you saw that coming! But oh well. Now, thanks to my 14 reviewers... I love you guys!

Blondie0276: Two from you! Yay! Rory's father will have something to do with the story, but I won't tell you who he is till later. He's not Freddy, I'll say that, and maybe he isn't even a band member! You can guess all you want though...

flatfoot-92: You're welcome!

electricxrain: Ummm.... yes. I felt bad for Nikki too. But she'll be all right.

MoonlightPhoenix3: An Aaron/Carmen pairing is interesting... we'll see! :)

wyverna: Thanks!! Oh, and your Freddy question is answered above.

Ainariel-Helyanwe: Thank you so much!

Uurime: Dewey's right here! No SoR fic is complete without him, I think!

Jenny: Thanks! The xylophone, eh? Interesting... I like.

fanficgirll: Your Freddy/Katie question is answered above.

brittboo91: Thank you! Your Freddy/Katie question is answered above.

chocl8chps: Hi again! Hah, a crazy affair... interesting, very interesting... :)

stickit2da-maniosis: Thank you so much!!

The CheezHead: I thought Mary Had a Little Lamb would get some laughs. Especially from any rockers out there. Yes, rejections suck. Boo rejection.

You know you're just itching to review....


	6. No freakin' way!

A/N: Apparently there is a big Dewey Finn fanbase out there - almost every reviewer was happy to see him! Honestly, what's School of Rock without Dewey? Lol. And now, the chapter you've all been waiting for... when the kids FIND OUT!!!!!!!!!

Chapter Six: No freakin' way!

Ms. O'Keefe left the class fairly quickly. Once she had gone, Dewey straightened up and looked around the class. "Now, I know you're all probably missing that Lemming dude, but trust me, this is gonna be a blast. I'm not gonna ask you all to introduce yourselves or whatever, cause that's too much like actual school, which this totally isn't. So, let's do something to warm ourselves up... how about scales?"

Aaron raised his eyebrows. "Scales?" he said. "Oh no, don't tell me we're going to do nursery rhymes after."

"Yeah, I was planning on it... gives me a feel for where you are musically," Dewey told him. The whole band groaned. "What, you think you're too cool for nursery rhymes?"

"Come on, Mr. Finn -" began Jordan, but Dewey cut him off. 

"It's Dewey, man, just Dewey. Or Mr. S, if you like," he said, smiling. When he noticed the strange looks he was getting from the band, he stopped. 

"I was like you guys, once. Thought I was too cool for fundamentals, thought rocking was all about the passion, and not about the actual music."

"Duh," said Carmen quietly.

"Don't you 'duh' me - I know what I'm talking about! If you don't learn the fundamentals, there's no point in even trying. You may as well just give up. Why? Because the world is run by The Man," said Dewey.

"Who?" asked Aaron, wrinkling his nose.

"The Man! Oh, you don't know The Man? Well, he's everywhere. In the White House, across the quad, Ms. O'Keefe, she's The Man. And The Man ruined the ozone, and he's burning down the Amazon, and he kidnapped Shamu and put her in a chlorine tank! Okay? And there used to be a way to stick it to The Man. It was called rock 'n roll. But guess what? Oh, no! The Man ruined that too, with a little thing called MTV! So don't waste your time trying to make anything cool or pure or awesome, cause The Man's just gonna call you a fat, washed-up loser and crush your soul. So do yourselves a favor, and just GIVE UP!" burst out Dewey. His speech was met with total silence.

"But I don't want to give up," Rory said quietly.

"Excuse me?" said Dewey. "What did you just say to me?"

"I said, I don't want to give up," Rory repeated, a little louder.

Dewey's face broke into a smile. "Now, that's what I like to hear! Cause giving up never works - I learned that fairly early on. It's good that you have too. I like you - what's your name, anyway?" Dewey wanted to know.

"Uh, Rory. Johnson," answered Rory. Being singled out was embarrassing, even though it was only in front of five other people.

Dewey turned and eyed Jordan, who was idly strumming an E-chord on his guitar. He didn't even seem aware that he was doing it. 

"Oh, now you wanna rock?" said Dewey. "And you, who are you?"

"Jordan Mooneyham," Jordan told him. Dewey did a double-take.

"Wait - you didn't just say Mooneyham, did you?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," said Jordan flustered.

Dewey wheeled around, looking once more at Rory. "And you, you're a Johnson?" he clarified.

"Uh-huh," nodded Rory.

"What's your mom's name?" asked Dewey. He seemed to really, really want a certain answer.

"Katie," Rory replied. Dewey's eyes just about popped out of his sockets.

"And you - Jordan, your dad wouldn't happened to be named Zack, would he?" 

"Yeah, that's him," Jordan confirmed, surprised.

"No freakin' way," whispered Dewey.

The members of Eclipse just eyed him. Apparently, this news was rather mind-blowing for their new director. Finally, Aaron spoke up, "Uh, what's going on?" he asked. 

Dewey looked at Aaron, and then blinked. "And you are..." he asked.

"Aaron Stewart," replied Aaron, totally confused.

"Lawrence's son?" asked Dewey, waiting with bated breath.

"Yeah - hey, how'd you know?" wondered Aaron. Dewey didn't answer him.

"So we have Zack, Katie, Lawrence... you!" he said, pointing at Marissa. "Who's your dad?"

"Freddy Jones," she told him.

"And you two?" demanded Dewey, not even taking time to reply to Marissa. "Who are your mothers? Their maiden names?"

"Tomika Davidson - well, she was Michaels," answered Carmen.

"Alicia Jennings - she was a Brandon," said Nikki.

Dewey put a hand to his head. "No way. No freakin' way," he muttered.

"You said that already," Aaron noted, making the campers laugh.

"Does anyone know if the daughter of Marta Stephenson is here?" asked Dewey. He was met with blank looks. "Hang on one minute," he told them, and then promptly left the staff lounge.

The band members of Eclipse were confused. They didn't understand what had caused Dewey to freak out like that. What was so special about their parents' names? They were boring, normal, mom-and-dad, Volvo-driving parents. 

When Dewey returned, he had Leah in tow. He ushered her in, and then indicated the band to take a seat. They put down their instruments and seated themselves in the chairs set up at one end of the room. Dewey stood before them, pacing continually. Finally, they couldn't take much more of his mysterious behavior.

"Uh, Dewey?" said Carmen. "Would you mind letting us in on what's going on?"

Dewey stopped his pacing. He looked them each in turn. "You mean you have no idea what the connection is between your parents?" he asked them. The seven kids shook their heads. Dewey sighed. "Have you never heard of the band 'School of Rock'?"

"Not before Ms. O'Keefe told us you were part of it," said Jordan.

"Oh boy," murmured Dewey. "How to tell you..."

"Tell us what?" demanded Leah.

"All right, guys, here's the thing," Dewey began. "Your parents were part of one of the most popular rock bands twenty years ago. They were total rockers, each and every one of them."

"My dad, too?" asked Marissa in disbelief.

"Especially your dad," said Dewey. "He was probably the most intense of all of them."

"Your dad -" he pointed at Jordan, "was the best shredder I'd heard since Jimi Hendrix himself. He was only ten years old when I met him, and he was already better than I was." Jordan's eyes widened, very surprised.

"Your mom -" Dewey nodded at Rory, "was our hardcore bassist. She was tough, and had total attitude - in a good rock way, of course. Inside she was a real sweetheart." Rory nodded thoughtfully.

"Your dad, Aaron, was an amazing keyboardist. At first, he didn't think he could do it, but I persuaded him, and shortly he was as rock as the rest of 'em," said Dewey. Aaron shook his head, attempting and failing to picture his father as a keyboard player in a rock band.

"Marissa, your dad was an awesome drummer. He really knew his stuff, and was really into getting things right and having a good time." Marissa snorted. "I'm totally serious," added Dewey.

"Carmen, Leah, Nikki - your mothers were our vocalists. They were all amazing, with wonderful voices. Especially Tomika - she was totally mind-blowing," said Dewey. The girls smiled, imagining their mothers as superstars.

"The seven of them, plus myself, formed the band 'School of Rock' when they were ten years old. I had come to supply teach for them at their school, Horace Green prep, even though I wasn't a qualified teacher - don't ask," he added, when Carmen opened her mouth.

"I found out how talented they were, and we formed the band. We played and came in second place at the Battle of the Bands that year. After that, we met nightly at my apartment. We started getting gigs, played major concerts, recorded an album, and even went on a United States tour when they were sixteen," recalled Dewey, smiling.

"Well, what happened, then?" demanded Aaron. "Cause the dad I know, he doesn't play anything." The other kids chimed in with "mine either!"

"WHAT??" Dewey spat. "I can't believe it! All their talent? I thought when the band ended..."

"Wait - why did the band end?" asked Rory, furrowing his brow. "I thought they were, like, superstars."

"They were," confirmed Dewey. "But then, things started happening. And after one major event, well, the band decided to take a break. And things never picked up again," he said sadly.

"What happened? Why did the band break up?" wondered Marissa.

Dewey sighed. "I really don't know if I'm the one to tell you that," he said reluctantly. "You know what? Each of you write to your parents and ask them. Hopefully they'll give us their story, and we can put it all together. If not, well, I'll fill in the gaps."

And so Eclipse, now with one more female vocalist, trudged back to their cabins at 11:30 to begin writing letters and to piece together the tragic past of the members of 'School of Rock'.

A/N: Well, wasn't that interesting? This chapter was longer than the rest - hopefully everyone liked it! In the next 5 chapters, we'll discover why the band broke up, and what happened in each band member's past that made them stop their music. Stay tuned! And now, my 17 thank-yous...

PurpleCandyCorn: I hope you're not too upset that Mr. Lemming isn't around anymore. Actually, I did go to music camp for two years... not a rock camp (sadly), just a normal one. But they were two of the best weeks of my life! I'm drawing a lot of things (the heat in the staff rec lounge, for example) from my own experiences.

electricxrain: You can play Mary Had a Little Lamb with your phone? Cool. And no, I'm not telling who Rory's father is :) but guess all you like!

Blondie0276: As you now know, Dewey knows the kids. And the kids know about SoR. Stay tuned!

quitesirius: This chapter is longer, hope you liked! It's not that Freddy and Marta look different, per se, they're just so much older. And I'll check out your HP fics!

mellowyellow36: The kids know! Hooray! Thanks so much for your praise, I feel so loved! :)

stickit2da-maniosis: Thank you! I love Dewey, too. 

MoonlightPhoenix3: Dewey rox my socks! Lol. Thanks for the review!

wyverna: Glad that chapter 5 is helping! Thanks for the compliments!

PheonixFireBlack: I may pull Mr. Lemming back in there somewhere. The next five chappies are like, flashback-style-ish, and yes, there will be a reunion!

Jenny: Yay, the kids know! Thanks for the review!

fanficgirll: I'm glad you don't hate me for the lack of Freddy/Katie. I'm glad you like my stuff!

chocl8chps: My most frequent reviewer! Thank you! Lol if you're interested in sharing any ideas, I'm interested in listening!

The CheezHead: Yay for Dewey! Rock music all around! Tee hee hee.

Waterbug7: I love Dewey too - I think everyone does! I'll update ASAP!

ThatJoeyKid: Lol glad you liked the Dewey-ness! I love the song Substitute by The Who - do you have the SoR soundtrack?

Miraged: Yay, I get 4 gold stars! *does happy dance* Glad you like my stuff!

sk8erpunkGCpnay: Lol, obey the itch! Always. :) Yes, the SoR parents did see each other and nod and stuff, but since they haven't seen each other since they were 17, they didn't recognize each other. Just wait - the good stuff's coming up!

Honestly, do I have to tell you what to do now? *Hint: it starts with "R" and ends with "eview"!


	7. How Freddy's world fell apart

A/N: Glad everyone liked the chapter! Now, here we go: we're on our way to finding out the past of everyone's favourite drummer... Freddy Jones! Plus, I know that this isn't how court rulings usually go, but since I've never been to court, I can't exactly say. So just go along with it.

Warning: This chapter contains alcohol use and slightly violent scenes. I'm not moving the rating up from PG because it's really this one chapter, but if you don't like that stuff, please don't read.

Chapter Seven: How Freddy's world fell apart

Marissa chewed on the end of her pen, debating how to begin her letter to her father. Dewey had warned them all to be sensitive; according to him, the band members of 'School of Rock' had gone through a lot of messed-up stuff back when they were seventeen. In order to find out as much as she could, she had better be gentle.

Marissa paused for a moment, wondering exactly what had made her father stop playing the drums. Apparently, he had been very good at them - he had even been really wild once! So how had a cool, punk rocker turned into the uptight, boring stiff that was her dad? It really was unimaginable. Eventually, Marissa put her pen to her paper and began to write:

Dear Dad,

Hey, how's life at home without me? How's Mom? Are you two enjoying yourselves without me? How's work going? I'm having an awesome time here at Camp Rock, just like I thought I would. Are you missing the sound of my drums, constantly banging at all hours of the day? 

Actually, I wanted to talk about the drums with you. We've formed bands up here, and our original band director, Mr. Lemming, came down with mono. Since he's out of commission for the rest of the summer, the camp director, Ms. O'Keefe, hired someone else. It's funny, because I'm pretty sure that you know him. His name is Dewey Finn - sound familiar? Dewey talked to our band Eclipse this morning, and we found out some pretty crazy stuff - like the fact that you were once the drummer for one of the hottest bands around, 'School of Rock', and that you guys eventually broke up. It's actually really weird, because the six other kids in my band are all the children of your former bandmates! How freaky is that? Anyway, Dewey said that the things that made your band break up were pretty serious, and he didn't want to be the one to tell us. So, I was writing to you to ask you for your version of what happened. I'd really like to know about the past of my hardcore drummer father.

But all in all, I'm having a good time up here, and of course, I miss you guys. Say hi to Mom for me, and write back!

Marissa XOXO

Marissa flinched a little at adding the hugs and kisses after her name - they really weren't her style. But somehow, after finding out that she and her dad were more alike than she'd known, she felt closer to him. It was hard to explain, and it was a really weird feeling. Not wanting to dwell any more on it, Marissa stuffed the letter in an addressed envelope, sealed it shut, and ran down the director's office to post the letter.

**************************************

As far as Freddy knew, that Thursday was to be a normal day. Go to work, come home, eat dinner with his wife, spend time with Keisha, and miss his daughter. He was hoping he'd hear from her, but so far, nothing. When he checked the mail that afternoon, however, he was happy to see a letter from Marissa. He tore it open, settled down on the sofa, and read her letter.

After reading the letter from Marissa, Freddy put his head in his hands. Oh, God, he thought, the band. He had been able to push his 'School of Rock' memories to the very deepest corner of his mind, and had almost forgotten them totally. Of course, his daughter's constant drumming never helped matters, but he'd grown used to it. But all of a sudden, it all came back to him. His attitude, the way he acted, and most of all, that night where everything... changed.

********************************FLASHBACK**********************************

Freddy slung his backpack over one shoulder and jumped down the four steps that stood at the entrance to his school, John Adams Secondary. His seventeen-year-old body was lean and trimmed, his white-blond hair spiked up as usual, and his uniform bore his own personal touches: rolled up sleeves, low-waisted pants, and several rock band patches on his bag. 

He met his best friend, Zack Mooneyham, out in the parking lot. Zack was just arriving at the spot where their two cars were parked; Zack's, a 1981 Chevrolet, and Freddy's, a brand-new BMW. Rich parents certainly had their advantages.

Freddy high-fived Zack. "Dude, practice again tonight?" he asked.

"You know it," nodded Zack. "I talked to Tomika, Summer, and Katie during chem this afternoon, and they were cool with it."

"I let Lawrence, Alicia, and Marta know," Freddy told him. He opened his car door and slung his backpack inside it.

"Dewey knows, right?" Zack wanted to know.

"Does that guy have anything else to do?" laughed Freddy. Zack smiled.

"I'm off, then - see ya at seven?" Zack asked.

"Not if I see you first," retorted Freddy, always determined to have the last word. They slapped hands again, and got into their cars.

********************************FLASHBACK**********************************

Freddy pulled his BMW into his favourite hangout - Karl's. He climbed out of his car and made his way over to the entrance. He flashed his - fake - ID at the bouncer, who was so used to seeing Freddy he didn't even question his ID anymore. Smiling smugly, Freddy walked inside.

The bar was dark, smoky, and reeked of alcohol. Freddy couldn't imagine anywhere better - except for playing onstage with his band, of course. Plus, the startling amount of girls -single or not, it didn't really matter to him - that showed up at Karl's every night never failed to boost his spirits.

Freddy sidled up to the bar and lowered himself down onto a stool. He flashed his ID and asked the bartender (Karl never worked at the bar. In fact, Freddy had come to wonder whether or not there even was a Karl - he'd never seen him, anyway) for a cold beer. The bartender obliged, and Freddy unscrewed the cap and took a long swig. 

At that moment, someone sat down next to Freddy. He turned to see who it was. At first, all he saw were legs. Those legs, creamy and smooth, seemed to go on forever. Eventually he was able to pull his eyes up to the rest of her. She had blond hair that grazed her chin and a very white smile. The only thing that was out of place in her Barbie-like features were her eyes. Instead of Barbie's crystal blues, Freddy found himself staring into deep, mystical black eyes. 

"Hey," he said to her.

"Hey, yourself," she said back. "I'm Chrissy."

Freddy turned his head and whipped out his cell phone. Hitting number 1 on his speed dial, he awaited his best friend's answer. Zack answered after two rings.

"Zack, man," Freddy said, "I think you'd better push practice back till eight tonight." He turned his head and eyed the blonde again. She flashed a dazzling smile at him. "I could be here for awhile."

********************************FLASHBACK**********************************

At eight thirty, Freddy staggered out of Karl's with Chrissy on his arm. She was giggling continuously and Freddy was having quite a difficult time locating his car. Probably it had something to do with the large amount of alcohol they had consumed earlier.

"'S here, baby, I'm telling ya... I've got a nice BMW we can go for a drive in..." he muttered. Finally he was able to spot his red BMW and he led her over to it.

"It's so cool!" she squealed. The two of them climbed in. "Go fast, Freddy," she said excitedly, bouncing in her seat.

Freddy gunned the engine and they squealed out of the parking lot. Rock music by Nirvana was pounding out of Freddy's CD player, and the two of them were singing along, rather off-key.

"With the lights out, it's less dangerous, here we are now, entertain us..."

As Freddy was driving, he was paying more attention to the song and Chrissy's hand on his leg than to watching the road. All of a sudden, Chrissy let out an ear-piercing scream.

"FREDDY, WATCH OUT!!!!" she screamed.

Before Freddy knew it, a metal barrier was rushing up to meet him. And then, after the car hit the barrier full-on, he saw nothing but darkness.

********************************FLASHBACK**********************************

"This court finds you guilty of the death of Miss Chrissy Haversham," announced the judge, slamming his gavel down onto the podium. 

Freddy, standing in the courtroom in his best suit (with his hair gelled down by his mother) felt his world crashing down around him. This can't be it, he thought to himself, I didn't mean to do it! His brain kept screaming over and over. Please, don't let this be it! I don't want to go to jail!

"However," the judge continued, "while you were both under the influence of alcohol, she was moreso than yourself, and we are only sentencing you to three months in a juvenile detention centre, full parole after the three months have been served, and 500 hours community service. Do you understand me?" the judge asked.

Freddy nodded meekly. "Yes sir," he said quietly.

"Court dismissed," said the judge, slamming down his gavel once more. 

******************************END FLASHBACK******************************* 

Freddy's hands shook as he reread his daughter's letter. How had his past caught up with him like this? He thought he had put it all behind him. He'd served his jail time, waited out his parole, and done his 500 hours of community service. While it was still on his record, he'd been able to forget about it. Until now, that is.

Freddy's wife, Keisha, came into the room. "What's wrong, dear? You look like death," she said worriedly, standing over him.

Her words made him flinch. "Nothing. I'm fine," he reassured her.

As Keisha returned to the kitchen to begin supper, Freddy crossed the apartment to the table. He pulled a sheet of paper and a pen out from a drawer, and then began to write his story down for Marissa, each word boring a painful hole in his heart.

A/N: And there you have Freddy's tragic past. Sad, isn't it? Just wait until you hear what else happened to the band! But now, as usual, my thank-yous...

Blondie0276: I liked that last chapter too. Wow, I am so flattered that you like my story this much *blushes*. Thank you so much!

RockinBassGirl: I have no intentions of letting this story slip, so never fear! I'm going on two trips this next month, but don't go away, there's more!

quitesirius: I love Dewey, it's not SoR without him. No, Ms. O'Keefe isn't Summer... but we will be seeing Summer eventually, so don't worry.

Krazy Kay: I love Jordan too, he's probably one of my faves. (Likely cause I love his dad so much! Lol)

flatfoot-92: Always nice to hear from you! Yeah, chapters like the last one are always fun.

crazydude: Wow, you think I have talent! *blushes tremendously* I'm honoured!

Firerebel727: I don't think I've seen you before! I'm so glad you love my story. I'll keep writing, don't worry!

Waterbug7: Just be patient, all will be revealed! I promise! 

JustVisitingUKgirl: I'm glad you liked my addition of Dewey. Mono is short for mononucleosis, a disease that makes your body really tired and you just can't function properly for several months. It stinks, I had it a couple years ago... it's also called the Kissing Disease cause that's one way it's spread! ;)

chocl8chps: It'd be fun to collaborate and write a story together, I've never tried writing one with someone else... any suggestions on how we'd do this?

MoonlightPhoenix3: That he does, that he does. Glad you like the fast updating-ness! I do my best! :)

Jenny: Glad you like the story! In... *pauses, checks chapter outline* you'll find out exactly how things happened, but as you can tell from this chapter, you're already starting to learn things.

tmrwspromise: I'm so flattered that you love this story... writing is such a blessing. And have people like what you write is even more of one! *beams*

So, read and review, as always! I luv you guys!!


	8. How Lawrence drifted away

**A/N: Well, now we know what happened with Freddy. Honestly, after you got out of jail and suffered through what he did, would you really want to sit down and play your drums again? Especially if you thought your drums and your rock music were part of what had turned you into such a bad-ass? No, I wouldn't either. Anyway, now we find out why Lawrence, the bee's knees of piano, stopped playing!**

**Chapter Eight: How Lawrence Drifted Away**

Aaron capped his pen and leaned back in his chair. He had no trouble writing his letter - talking had always seemed to come easy for him. The part that was difficult was trying to imagine his polite-talking, suit-wearing, briefcase-toting father as a hip teenager rocking out with the rest of his band.Shaking his head in bewilderment, he reread his letter.

Dear Dad,

Hey, how's it hanging? How're things back in good ol' Connecticut? Are you having a horrible time without me? Just kidding, I know you're probably totally busy with work and Mom and Casey and stuff like that. But whatever.

Listen, Dad, I heard some pretty mind-blowing news here at Camp Rock this morning. We ended up with a sub as a band director - his name is Dewey Finn and he says that you were the keyboardist of his old band, 'School of Rock'. Well, when I heard that, I was like "No way! That's so cool!" I'd really like to hear all about it if you'd like to tell me. Plus, I'd love to know why you stopped playing the piano. Well, I should go, it's almost lunchtime. Talk to you later!

Your bud, Aaron****

Satisfied, Aaron made his way to the mailbox in the quad and sent his letter on its way. He hoped his father would answer soon - he really wanted to know all about the band!

That afternoon, Lawrence came home from work very tired. He'd argued with three people about different invoices their company had needed to send, spent a half hour chasing a missing package through the office, and had missed his lunch break because of an "important meeting" that had ran an hour and a half overtime. He was looking forward to coming home, eating dinner, watching a little bit of television, and heading to bed early. However, a letter turned up in the mail that day, throwing his whole evening off-balance.

Aaron fingered the letter, shocked. How had Dewey come to teach at a summer camp? More to the point, how had Dewey come to teach at the exact same summer camp as the one his son had begged and pleaded to attend? He glanced up at the ceiling. Honestly, God had it in for him that day.

FLASHBACK

Lawrence played the final arpeggio of his best piece, Air in F-Minor, and pulled his hands back from the piano. Keeping his grimace to a minimum, he sat still while his piano teacher, Mrs. Greer, applauded enthusiastically.

"That was absolutely marvellous, Lawrence! You have such a gift!" she praised him. "If you spent half as much time practicing classical music as you did practicing with that silly rock band of yours, you'd be one of the most well-known pianists in all of Long Island!"****

Lawrence nodded, not saying anything. Sure, he liked playing the piano. No, correction, he loved playing the piano. It was practically his life. But somehow, playing classical music just didn't give him the thrill that rock music did.

"You know..." Mrs. Greer said thoughtfully. "I heard about a Julliard audition coming up... they're looking to take on new piano students. They're coming here, to Long Island, to audition students. I actually just received the forms..." she rustled through a large handbag sitting by her chair. "Ah, here we are," she said. Mrs. Greer handed one to Lawrence.

He took it, looking down at it doubtfully. Biting his lip, he began, "You know, Mrs. Greer, I really appreciate this, but I'm not certain that..."

"Oh, please don't turn it away just yet!" she exclaimed. "Do me a favour - go to the audition, play your pieces, and show them what you can do. If you don't get accepted, I'll start giving you more jazz and rock pieces, and I won't ever make you play classical music again."

Lawrence smiled. "Really?"

"Really," she confirmed. "But..." Lawrence raised his eyebrows. He should have known a 'but' was coming. "But, if you do get in, I'd like you to seriously consider going to Julliard, at least for one term."

Lawrence sat in silence, carefully considering his options. On the one hand, if he got in, he'd have to go and play classical music all day long. But on the other, if he didn't, he'd get to play much more music that he actually enjoyed. Besides, getting into Julliard wouldn't be that bad - if he became good enough, this could open doors for both him and the rest of his musical career. He looked up at Mrs. Greer and nodded.

"Okay."

FLASHBACK

Lawrence sat at his piano bench, playing one of Beethoven's symphonies for probably the fiftieth time that day. After playing the last few bars, he sat back, chewing on his bottom lip. The ending chords really weren't working too well for him. He played them several more times, each one more disappointing then the last. Lawrence was becoming frustrated. Why couldn't he get it right?

His mother stepped into the room. "Lawrence, you have a phone call," she told him.

"Who is it?" he asked. "I'm really busy."

"It's Tomika," she told him. "She's called four times already, I had to promise to put her through this time."

Lawrence sighed, but took the black cordless phone from her. "Thanks," he said. Putting the phone to his ear, he said, "Hey, Tomika."

"Hey, Lawrence!" she exclaimed. "Still practising hard?"

"Extremely," he nodded, realizing afterwards that she couldn't see him. "How're things with you?"

"Oh, fine," she said noncommittedly. "Are you getting the math homework okay?"

Lawrence shook his head in frustration. "No! My brain is totally unable to focus right now!"

"I can help you with it tomorrow at lunch, if you can pry yourself away from the grand piano in the music room," Tomika offered, with a slightly shy smile in her voice.

"Thanks, Tom, but I really need to practise. My symphony isn't working at all!"

"Oh, all right," she said regretfully. "Listen, are you coming to band practice tonight?"

"Can't," Lawrence told her. "I need to get started on the aria. Sorry,"

"Oh, that's okay," she said sadly. "I'll let everyone know. I've gotta go."

"Bye," said Lawrence, turning off the phone. Now, time to work on those chords...

FLASHBACK

Tomika and Zack bumped into Lawrence after school three days later. "Lawrence, man, see you at six?" asked Zack.

"Six?" replied Lawrence, confused. "What's going on at six?"

"Uh, it's Friday night," said Tomika. "Every Friday at six we meet up at Jimmy's, grab some burgers and fries, and then play for open mike. Don't tell me you forgot."

"I didn't forget, I just - didn't remember," he muttered.

"Come on, man! Get with it! You've been blowing us off for two weeks now! Yeah, your audition's important, but so's the band - right?" cried Zack, frustrated. Lawrence didn't answer.

"Isn't it?" asked Tomika, biting her lip.

"God!" burst Lawrence. "What is wrong with you people! All you do is bug me - especially you, Tomika! You never shut up about the band! Maybe right now something's a little more important to me than the band, all right?" he yelled at her.

Storming off, Lawrence didn't even turn around. But if he had, he would have seen Tomika and Zack staring after him, Tomika's eyes filled with tears.

FLASHBACK

A week later, Lawrence barged into Dewey's apartment, where the rest of the band was, except for Freddy. "Guys!" he exclaimed excitedly. "I got in! I got into Julliard!"

He paused, seeing everyone's distraught faces. "What? What's wrong?" he asked, unsettled by their upset looks. "You're not still mad at me, are you?"

"Sit down, Lawrence," said Marta soothingly. Lawrence sat down, noticing that the seat behind the drum set was strangely... empty.

END FLASHBACK****

Lawrence remembered all to well the outcome of that day - the day that they learned about Freddy's mistake. He also remembered what came after: leaving for Julliard, being shunned by his classmates, kids throwing water bottles at him during his recital because he messed up his piece by Chopin. And finally, he remembered telling his parents, "I'm never going back to that stupid school!" and packing up his piano books in the piano bench - forever.

How to explain all this to Aaron? The boy was so carefree, so innocent (all right, maybe not that innocent - Lawrence had heard through the grapevine about Aaron's new girl, Holly), he didn't need to hear what a loser his Dad had been. But then, he'd asked. Why would he ask, if he didn't want to know? Lawrence sighed. He'd have to tell his son the truth.

**A/N: Well, I'm back from BC and am updating! I had such a good time while I was out there! Seriously, Tofino is probably one of the most beautiful places in all of Canada! EVERYBODY GO VISIT TOFINO!!!! It's roll-your-pant-legs-up, wade-in-the-Pacific-ocean-for-an-hour gorgeous. Try it, you won't be disappointed! Anybody wanting to know more about my trip, just ask. Otherwise, I'll just say my thank-yous and be off...**

**Nanners-77: I love stars, so the more, the better! I'll decorate my bedroom ceiling with all the stars you've given me! Thanks so much. BC rocks!**

**obsessed fan: So glad you like the story. No, Freddy and Katie didn't get together, and I'm not saying whether or not Marissa and Rory get together. But yes, SoR will be back for one more jam session! (Mm, jam. I could go for some jam right now. Lol.)**

**mellowyellow36: Your prediction about Zack's problem involving his dad is correct! Tune in SOON and see!**

**JustVisitingUKgirl: Okay, NOW I understand your name, lol. Where in the UK are you from? I'm visiting England in thirteen days! (Can you tell I'm counting down? Lol.) Oh, and I LOVE A Walk to Remember... such a good book and an awesome movie! Love it love it love it!**

**sam: Hi! Haven't seen you around before. Since Freddy/Katie is such a popular ship, I'm planning on writing one once I finish this. Where in BC do you live? I visited Langley, Vancouver, Nanaimo, Port Alberni, and Tofino. I had such a great time!**

**FaeryPaperPrincess: Good to meet you! I swear, I didn't steal your story. Hopefully you weren't worried about that. I'm glad you like it.**

**BabyRose129: Nice to meet you! Yay, I get a muffin! What kind is it? I love muffins! Glad you like my story!**

**stickit2da-maniosis: Does my story rock as hard as School of Rock? Lol j/k. Now that I'm back, expect more updates!**

**The CheezHead: Hopefully you didn't go totally crazy waiting for this chapter. Hope you like it!**

**wyverna: I'm so sorry for not mentionning you! I thought I got everyone who reviewed that last chapter, but if I missed you, I'm so sorry!!! Gives you ten cookies **

**mell5: Good to meet you! Wow, you think I'm talented tear I'm so honoured!**

**trick of the light: Cool name! Sadly, this is not a Zack/Summer fic, but I might write one someday! So glad you like it. Summer's son will be here soon, never fear!**

**quitesirius: Glad you liked the chapter! SoR rocks my socks! Yes, poor Freddy.**

**Freddy'sGirl101: I love your name! Well, I've been to a music camp (I can now say "This one time, at band camp..." without faking it!) but it wasn't a rock band camp. I did take a few things from the camp I've been to (like the extreme heat in the staff lounge) and put it into this story, though. Oh, and my movie takes place at Camp Rock, on Long Island (I don't know if that's where the SoR movie takes place, but in my mind, it does).**

**A/N: And there you have it! Just so y'all know, I emailed everyone who's email addresses are on their profiles, to tell them that I've updated. If you got an email, great! If not, hopefully you were able to find this new chapter without too much trouble! Read and review, the next chapter's coming soon!**


	9. The breaking of the band

**A/N: Glad everyone liked the last chapter. It's the long weekend, so I'm hoping to get up one more chapter after this one. Yay long weekend! Lol. Oh, I meant to mention this: MoonlightPhoenix3, those Tomika/Lawrence bits were for you!! Hope you liked 'em! Everyone has been asking for Zack's bit - well, it's coming after this chapter! But I think you guys will all like this chapter anyway. This chapter tells us why such a kick-ass band BROKE UP!!!!**

**Chapter 9: The breaking of the band**

Ten days later, Jordan, Marissa, Rory, Aaron, Carmen, Leah, and Nikki rushed into band practice. They'd all sent off their letters, but so far, only Marissa and Aaron had received replies. They knew the story about why their parents stopped playing their instruments (and Dewey had confirmed the truth to the stories) but nobody knew exactly why the band broke up. They were hoping to convince Dewey to tell them.

When Dewey walked into the staff lounge, seven children immediately jumped on him. They managed to tackle him to the ground and, while he was being held down, Carmen said, "Dewey, we want to know, and we want to know NOW!"

"All right, all right!" came Dewey's muffled answer from beneath Jordan's hand. Jordan removed his hand at once, and Dewey went on, "I'll tell you, but you've all gotta get off me!" The kids scrambled to their feet.

"Now," said Dewey, straightening his bow tie, "I was expecting to have heard from all your parents by this time. But since that hasn't happened, I'm gonna let you in on their secret. You guys deserve to know."

All seven of them lowered themselves onto various chairs or amps, awaiting his words.

"How the band broke up..." said Dewey thoughtfully. "How 'School of Rock' broke up..."

FLASHBACK

Rehearsal was supposed to start at 8:00 pm that night. But somehow, two of their band members, plus one band manager, had failed to arrive on time. It was no surprise to Freddy hadn't shown up on time - although he had asked to have rehearsal pushed back, he wasn't known for his promptness. Everyone, especially Tomika, noted the absence of Lawrence sadly - although he had been missing practices for quite awhile, they still half-expected to see him at each rehearsal. But Summer was a surprise. Where was she? She should have been there - never, in the history of School of Rock, had she missed a practice.

By 8:15, however, she breezed in. "Guys, I am so sorry," she said, out of breath. "I was writing my entrance essay to Yale and I got so caught up in it..." she trailed off.

"It's okay, Summer," said Zack, "you're not the only one who's late, anyway."

She looked around. "Oh," she said feebly. "Well, I'm not too surprised about Freddy. And I guess we shouldn't count too much on Lawrence, either."

"It's not fair!" burst out Katie, slamming her fist onto a nearby table.

Everyone turned to look at her in shock. She wasn't prone to outbursts. "Woah there, Posh," warned Dewey.

"Come on! We all make time in our lives for this band, yet we're being dragged down by these guys. I hate it! If they're not going to be loyal to the band, why not just kick them out?!" she yelled. Dead silence followed her suggestion.

"Kick them out?" replied Alicia, her voice wavering. "Are you serious? We've been together for seven years - don't you think we can get through this?"

"I don't know!" cried Katie. "Face it, guys, this sucks, big time. Our friendships are going down the tubes, and if we don't do something about it, the band will too. It already is," she said quietly, looking around at everyone else. They all seemed to be agreeing with her - at least, their body language told her that she was right. Tomika was biting her lip, Zack was staring at the ground, Marta was fiddling with her mike cord, Alicia was scuffing her shoe into the carpet, and Summer was picking at a spot on her finger. Dewey was the only one who'd meet her eyes.

"Don't worry, Katie," he said soothingly. For a punk-rock guy like Dewey, he could still be pretty sensitive sometimes. "Things will work out - you guys are too good to let it all slip."

Katie smiled slightly. "Thanks."

"Now," said Dewey, standing up. "Let's get to work on some stuff! Alicia, let's work on that song you wrote a few weeks back, 'On Fire'." The band plugged their instruments and mikes in, and began to play.

Right in the middle of the bridge, Dewey's telephone rang. Marta, who wasn't singing at the moment, picked it up. She didn't want the band to stop playing.

Marta listened for several minutes, saying nothing but "Uh-huh. I see. Mm-hm, okay" over and over. Eventually, this caught the attention of the band members, and the song faded off in the chorus. Eventually, Marta hung up the phone and sat down on the nearest surface - Katie's amp.

"Marta? Are you okay?" asked Tomika.

"What's wrong?" Zack wanted to know.

Eventually, Marta looked up. Her eyes were very red, as if she was trying very hard to keep from crying. "That was Freddy's mom on the phone."

"Freddy's mom?" asked Alicia, confused. "What did Freddy's mom want?"

"She wanted to tell us something," said Marta.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense!" said Katie. "What is it?"

Marta took a deep breath, and paused before answering. "Freddy was out at a club tonight. Eventually, he decided to leave and come to band practice. He had some girl with him - Chrissy, I think her name was. Anyway, they were driving really fast, and they - crashed."

"Crashed?!" gasped Katie. "Oh my God... is Freddy okay?"

"Yeah, Freddy's fine," said Marta. "But Chrissy's not. Chrissy was - Chrissy is dead."

Complete and utter silence.

"Dead?" muttered Summer quietly.

Marta nodded.

Zack wanted to say something, but he didn't trust his voice to speak. It may just start him crying, which was never a good thing around his friends. Eventually, he had to ask, "What's going to happen with Freddy?"

"They're taking him to court fairly soon," said Marta. "Depending on their verdict, he could get a pardon, community service, or even some time in a detention centre."

Nobody spoke after this. They all turned and looked at Dewey, their eyes asking the same question: what was going to happen to the band?

At that moment, the door to the apartment banged open. In ran Lawrence, looking extremely excited.

"Guys!" he exclaimed. "I got in! I got into Julliard!"

He paused, seeing everyone's distraught faces. "What? What's wrong?" he asked, unsettled by their upset looks. "You're not still mad at me, are you?"

"Sit down, Lawrence," said Marta soothingly. Lawrence sat down. He noticed that Freddy wasn't there, and that everyone looked as if their favourite pet had just died.

"Freddy was - in a car accident," said Marta, her voice breaking. "He's all right, but the girl he was with, Chrissy, was killed. He's being taken to court soon."

Lawrence blinked at her. "Are you sure?"

"Of course she's sure!" burst out Tomika. "Lawrence, would we lie to you about something like that?" Lawrence remained silent, looking at his shoes.

"Hey, guys," said Dewey softly. "It'll be all right. Freddy will serve his punishment, and then we can get back to normal rehearsals again. I thought we'd try and tour this summer."

"No," said Zack. Everyone turned around to look at their shyest guitarist. "Guys, don't you see it? Look at us. We're a mess. Freddy's just killed a girl. Lawrence has missed practically every practice for three weeks. Summer's trying so hard to get into Yale. We're all busy with jobs and college applications. And what about after the summer? Yeah, it'll be great, but then we'll all be going off to different places. What's the chances of us keeping it together when we're in different cities, if we can't do it now? Doesn't anyone remember us when the band first started in fifth grade? It was all about the music. And now? Now we're putting the band on the back burner for everything. It's not going to work," he finished, looking at each person in turn.

"What are you saying, Zack?" asked Katie quietly.

"I'm saying... I'm saying..." Zack swallowed. "I'm saying we should take a break."

"You think so?" asked Tomika. She had tears in her eyes.

"I really do. I don't think we're going to be able to keep it going," Zack nodded sadly.

"Maybe you're right," said Alicia quietly.

"Well, we should take a vote," Dewey broke in. "All in favour of - of -" he couldn't seem to say the words 'breaking up' "of taking a break?"

Zack's hand was the first in the air. It didn't shoot up, but Zack put it up with extreme certainty.

Katie's hand was next. She looked as if her life was ending.

Next came Lawrence's. He didn't meet anyone's eyes as he did so.

Marta put her hand up after this. She sighed a very long sigh.

Tomika, crying straight out now, put hers up as well.

Alicia followed suit, thinking her heart would break.

Summer put up her hand next. She looked at the pencil in her hand, seriously considering stabbing herself with it.

Lastly came Dewey's hand. He looked around the room, counting the hands. "Well, that's it then," he said.

"School of Rock is over."

END FLASHBACK

"After Freddy's trial, we all half-thought that we'd get back together," Dewey told the members of Eclipse. "But nobody had the guts to start it up again. So everyone went off to college, and that was that."

"Wow," said Rory softly. "That sucks."

Everyone nodded. There was nothing left to say; Rory had put it perfectly.

**A/N: Wow, that was the hardest chapter I've ever had to write. I hate the thought of the band breaking up, so it was really tough for me to actually go through with it and write it. Hopefully everyone felt at least a little sadness at this event. But on the upside, I got 23 reviews for chapter 8! You guys rock, you really do. I'd like to thank everybody, and give you all cookies!**

**BabyRose129: I love chocolate muffins, you're my hero! Lol. That's weird that your music teacher was Mrs. Greer too. Veeeery interesting... pokes You're not Lawrence, are you?**

**PheonixFireBlack: Yay, I'm original! Wahoo! Zack's bit is next chapter, I promise!**

**Camera-obscura: I'm glad to be back, as always. You live in Coquitlam? We didn't visit there, but I have heard of it! That's so cool - your province rocks! Have you ever been out to Ontario?**

**stickit2da-maniosis: Yes, I will write more, I promise! Wow, I'm so glad you think I rock! You rock too, for reviewing! gives you a cookie**

**mellowyellow36: Glad you like my Kevin pic, I do too. :)**

**flatfoot-92: Thanks! Tsk tsk indeed.**

**EviL PunK NoT: Actually, Freddy's chapter is the chapter before Lawrence's... check it out!**

**Desiree: Glad you like it!**

**MoonlightPhoenix3: Hopefully you saw my comment in the opening author's note. Poor Freddy and Lawrence - poor everyone! **

**quitesirius: Yes, you're right, Zack's was because of his dad. Zack is next chapter!**

**JustVisitingUKgirl: Wow, you're from Surrey? That's so cool! I love everything English, I can't wait to visit there! (Yes, I know I'm a dork). You've never met Tom Felton, have you? Lol j/k.**

**chocl8chps: Nice to see you again! Can't wait to read ur next chapter!**

**wyverna: Yeah, I knew that Joey was discovered for his part as Zack at a rock camp. That's pretty cool, eh?**

**fanficgirl1: Glad you liked my update!**

**Jenny: No, we don't see enough of Lawrence... I love that guy!**

**The CheezHead: Yeah, I noticed while re-reading that I said 'Aaron' instead of 'Lawrence'. So sorry! Good of you for catching that, though.**

**sk8erpunkGCpnay: You're a keyboardist? Very cool. I play piano, but I'm not very good blush. Yeah, I do like Kevin... blushes even more. Just curious by one of your comments (hopefully I don't offend you) but are you a girl or a guy?**

**ocean-princess-91: I always try to be original, so I'm glad it's appreciated. You guys rock!**

**tmrwspromise: Hang on, I'm getting to everyone else! Lol.**

**Swimmerkitti: Glad you like it! Thanks!**

**Freddy'sGirl01: Nice name!! I love Zack too, he's next chapter!**

**BlackFloyd03: Wow, I almost brought you to tears???? You almost brought me to tears by saying I almost brought you to tears! (Did that make sense??..) Lol. No, I don't live in New York, I'm from Canada. Why?**

**You know what to do... read and review! (Hey, that rhymes!) **


	10. How Zack and Katie lost themselves

**A/N: Now, here we have Zack and Katie's part! Just to warn you, the original draft of this chapter was written entirely on receipt paper during my 5-hour shift at the grocery story tonight. I'm tired and hungry, so if something doesn't make sense, that's why. Well, enjoy!**

**Chapter 10: How Zack and Katie lost themselves**

The responses from parents continued to trickle in. The very next day, both Jordan and Rory received letters from their parents. Anxiously, they ran back to their cabin to read them.

"You go first," said Jordan as they collapsed on their bunks.

"No, you," urged Rory.

Grinning, Jordan tore open the envelope. He pulled out the letter, covered in his father's untidy scrawl. Clearing his throat, Jordan began to read:

"Dear Jordan,

"Needless to say, your letter caught me rather off guard today. I can't believe you got to meet Dewey Finn... how is the old guy, by the way? He was an awesome man to work with - he was always into the music, no matter what. Is he still like that?

"So you want the whole story, do you? I have to admit, this story is pretty painful for me to tell. I haven't talked about 'School of Rock' in a long time..."

FLASHBACK

Zack sat at his kitchen table on Friday evening and stabbed moodily at a potato. It had been four days since 'School of Rock' had called it quits, and he still felt absolutely miserable. He knew his mother was worried about him; he'd seen her puttering about outside his bedroom, hoping to be confided in. But what was he supposed to say? "How was your day, Mom? Did you sell any houses? Oh, by the way, 'School of Rock' broke up. Pretty lousy weather we're having, eh?" As if.

His mother looked at her watch. "Zack, honey, it's six thirty. Aren't you and the rest of the band supposed to be at Jimmy's by now?"

Could his mother read minds or something? Zack sighed - he may as well tell her. "Actually, no. We, uh... we broke up."

Zack's father's head shot up. "What? You broke up?" Zack nodded numbly. "You mean you don't play anymore?"

"Of course I still play!" exclaimed Zack indignantly. "Just not with the others."

"Oh," his father replied.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" asked his mother, putting a concerned hand on his shoulder.

Zack swallowed a mouthful green beans, not tasting them at all (which was probably a good thing - he had this thing about green beans). "Yeah, I'm fine," he lied.

Later that evening, Zack began feeling really warm. The excessive heat seemed to be coming from the living room. He made his way downstairs, prepared to complain to whichever of his parents he found first, and turned the corner.

His father was sitting on a footstool in front of the fireplace. In it was a roaring blaze that filled the entire fireplace. He couldn't understand what his father thought he was doing - sure, it was almost December, but it wasn't that cold out!

And that's when Zack saw it, among the orange flames. The white-beige corner of his flying-V guitar.

"NO!" he cried in horror. He leapt towards where the fire-poker was kept, intending to fish his guitar out of the blaze, but he discovered that the poker wasn't there. He turned, open-mouthed, to stare at his father.

"What are you doing?!"

"I let you play your guitar in that band because it got you some friends," said his father cooly. "That's over now. You've spent far too much time on that foolish instrument. You're not to play guitar any more! It's almost time for university - you need to focus on that!"

"But Dad -"

"But nothing! You're not 'Zack Attack' anymore, man."

Something inside Zack's body snapped. "You don't understand! You never have and you never will! Guitar playing is my life! And there's no way you can stop me playing forever - I'll just buy a new one! But that's not the problem - the problem is, you don't want to understand me! You never even try to see my side -" he yelled. His father turned and walked out of the room.

Zack sank to his knees as his precious guitar melted before him, feeling as if his whole body was broken.

END FLASHBACK

"Wow," said Rory softly.

"Yeah," Jordan agreed. There seemed to be nothing more to say.

They sat in silence for a few moments. Then, Jordan said, "Read yours." Rory ripped open the letter from his mother and did so.

FLASHBACK

The doorbell rang at 8:37 pm. Katie clattered down the stairs, her hair pulled into a high ponytail and her face covered in purple face mask. As she was the only one home, she had no choice but to answer the door. Of course, the fact that she had forgotten her face mask made it much easier to do so.

She flung the front door open and there stood Zack. He was a mess. His eyes were red and puffy, his hair was mussed, and his green plaid shirt was rumpled. "Can I come in?" he asked. She nodded, and he stepped inside. "I - what's on your face?"

Katie's fingers flew to her cheeks. Blushing (although you couldn't tell), she said, "Give me one minute, okay?" She hurried into the bathroom and came out not long after with her hair down, and not a trace of purple.

"What's up?" she asked, sitting next to him on the couch. "You look awful."

Zack told her the whole story. By the time he was finished, Katie's face was white.

"You're kidding," she said. "He actually burned your guitar?"

"Yeah," croaked Zack.

"And now you can't play?"

"Not until I save enough money to buy a new one. Which will be never, cause I have to save for university too."

"Tell you what," said Katie. "Until you can play guitar again, I'll save my money too, and I won't play my bass."

"Why?" asked Zack, shocked. "You love your bass!"

"I know," she told him. "I want to. And besides, I love other things more than my bass."

Zack looked her right in the eye. "Thanks," he whispered, and he melted into his girlfriend's arms.

FLASHBACK

A month and a half later, Katie's older sister Krysta came home for the holidays. On Krysta's last night home, they were sitting in Katie's room, talking. Katie excused herself to go to the bathroom. When she did not return for ten minutes, Krysta began to get worried. She knocked on the door to Katie's en suite.

"Katie? It's me. Are you all right?" she called through the door. There was no reply. All she could hear from inside the bathroom was the faint sound of Katie crying.

This alarmed Krysta. "Katie! What's going on? I'm coming in!" she cried, barging into the bathroom.

Katie was sitting on the cold tile floor, her head leaning against the cupboard. She was sobbing, something she never did, and something white was clutched in her fist.

"What the - Katie, is that a pregnancy test?!" Krysta wanted to know, shocked. Numbly, Katie nodded.

"What does it say?" asked Krysta. She held her breath. And then -

"I'm - pregnant," choked Katie.

"Oh God," murmured Krysta. She sank down onto the floor beside her sister. "Is Zack the father?" she asked, almost knowing the answer. Katie was a loyal girl. Katie nodded, not daring to speak.

"You've gotta tell Mom and Dad. And Zack," Krysta told her.

"No!" exclaimed Katie, sitting up straight. "Well, okay, I'll tell Mom and Dad. But definitely not Zack."

Krysta was dumbfounded. "Why not?"

Katie shook her head. "Zack has enough problems right now without any of this. When I start to show, I'll - I'll just miss school. I'll break it off with him now, so he won't come looking for me."

"You can't keep it a secret forever, you know," reasoned Krysta. "He's gonna find out eventually."

Katie's eyes blazed with a kind of confidant defiance.

"Watch me."

END FLASHBACK

This letter rendered even more silence from the two boys. Each of them sat perfectly still on their beds, processing this information. Neither dared speak. Eventually, Jordan decided that something must be said.

"Holy crap."

**A/N: Did that shock any of you, or were you all expecting that? Hopefully this doesn't upset any of you - yeah, it's turning into one big soap opera, but oh well. Oh, and some of you may have realized that for the Eclipse kids to be the same age, all of them would have to have been born at the same time as Rory. Well, for the purposes of this story (and the fact that I'm too lazy to go back and change everything) we'll just disregard that little fact. It's really late right now, and I'm soooo tired. I want to get this chapter posted tonight. So instead of personalized thank-yous, I'll just say one huge thank you to everyone:**

**THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**If there's any pressing questions or comments I have to answer, I'll do so next chapter. Read and review, of course!**


	11. How Tomika, Marta Alicia were silenced

**A/N: I am so sorry for the extremely long hiatus that this story took. But seeing as I was in Europe (BEST TRIP EVER!!!!!!), and then had to cram to catch up for exams, it was unavoidable. But now exams are almost over (just math on Friday! Whoot whoot!) and summer is almost upon us, so I'm assuming that I'll be able to finish this story fairly soon. I'll miss writing it, but it will be nice to start another. Yes, I have more up my sleeve! But those don't come yet - must finish this one first! So, hope everyone likes this chapter!**

**Chapter 11: How Tomika, Marta, and Alicia were silenced**

Carmen's letter was the next one to arrive at the camp. She clutched it all through dinner the night it came, wanting to be back in her cabin so she could tear it open. She knew her mother had a good voice - Tomika used to sing her to sleep when she was a little girl. But her mother had never sang in public since before Carmen could remember. She wished she knew why, and hopefully, this letter would provide her with the answer.

After dinner, she could barely contain her excitement. Instead of returning to her cabin, however, she took a walk down by the lake. No one was around - the sun was starting to set, and everyone was probably at the huge game of football the guys had decided to start. She ripped open her letter, settled herself in the sand, and lost herself in her mother's words.

FLASHBACK

Nervously, Tomika made her way into More Music, the CD store around the corner from her house. Trying to look as discreet as possible, she walked casually over to the 'New Releases' section. There it was - her CD. A picture of herself smiling shyly in front of an orange background graced the cover. She'd been to the store every day for the past two weeks, and still hadn't had the courage to buy it. It would look really desperate, she thought to herself, buying your own CD. Like the record company was so bad, they hadn't even given you a copy! Well, she thought bitterly, they hadn't. When she'd gotten signed on by Memorex Records, she'd been extremely excited. She'd spent two months of weekends and after school time in the studio in New York, recording twelve tracks. Sure, their studio was a dump, and they didn't have the best recording equipment. And yeah, they had been so lousy, the didn't even give her a copy of it. But none of that mattered. Almost three months later, it was here!

Shaking her head, she grabbed a copy of the CD. Don't be silly, she told herself, just buy it! There was a new guy working at the counter, probably not much older than she was, so he didn't know her. If the pulled her baseball cap down low over her eyes, maybe he wouldn't recognize her from her picture on the CD cover.

Tomika walked over to the counter and placed the CD on it, not meeting the boy's eyes. He picked it up and scanned it, then flipped it over to look at the back. "Haven't rung this one in before," he commented.

That hurt Tomika just a little. It had been in stores for at least two weeks, and this was the first copy that had been sold? She felt like a pin was poking into her side, slowly letting her confidence seep out.

"Really," she said, more to be polite than anything else. She just wanted to get out of that store.

"Yeah," he said. "But hey, I'm not surprised. I've never heard of this girl. And most people don't go out and buy new CDs unless the girl on the cover is really hot."

That hurt even more.

"Oh, yeah?" she asked, her voice wavering slightly.

"Of course!" the guy exclaimed. "Come on, this girl's a dump. And she's huge! No matter how good her music sounds, no one's gonna want to go and see her jiggle her way around the stage."

Okay, she had to get out, and fast.

"Keep the change," she mumbled, grabbing the bag with the CD. She tore out of the store and kept running. She ran all the way back to her house, slamming open the front door and dashing up the stairs. She heard her mother call, "Tommi, is that you?" but she ignored her.

Tomika's tears didn't start to fall until the reached the safety of her own room. She pulled the CD out of the bag and looked at her picture. The guy in the music store was right - nobody bought CDs of ugly, fat girls. She hurled the CD across the room, yelling as it went. It slammed into the wall and landed on the ground. Hopefully, Tomika thought bitterly, the stupid CD had broken.

She collapsed on her bed. She wiped at her eyes furiously. What did it matter? So a guy thought she was fat. So what? His opinion didn't matter anyway. But secretly Tomika knew it did. Apparently other people thought so too - not a single copy had been sold! She buried her face in her pillow and let the tears come once more.

END FLASHBACK

Leah's letter came next. The very next day it was given to her. Excitedly, she pulled it open. She didn't really care that she had to be at rehearsal in five minutes, and it took at least seven to walk to the staff lounge. They'd excuse her for being late just this once, she was sure. Her mother's familiar cursive leaped out at her as she unfolded the letter.

FLASHBACK

"Mom, you're going to be here, right? You can't miss it!" Marta insisted, wrapping the phone cord around her finger. After a second or two of static ("Stupid cell phones," she thought) she heard her mother's voice reply.

"I'm trying, Marta, I really am. I'm just coming down the interstate right now, breaking just about every speed limit there is," she laughed, but Marta could tell her mom's voice had a little edge of stress in it.

"All right, as long as you're hurrying. The recital starts in ten minutes!" urged Marta.

"I know, I know. I'll be there, I promise. I wouldn't ever let you down."

"Thanks, Mom," smiled Marta.

Her mother began to speak, but she abruptly cut off. From the other end of the line, Marta heard the squealing of tires, a woman's scream, and a loud CRASH. "Mom? Mom? MOM! What happened? What's going on?"

Static.

Marta stood in a line at the front of the church with her father, younger brother, and older sister. She ran her hands down the sides of her black knee-length skirt, wiping the sweat from them. Shaking endless hands was really tiring. All she wanted to do was curl up on a back pew and never get up again.

She looked up to see who was next in line. It was Freddy.

"Freddy? What are you doing here?" she asked, shocked. It had been a month and a half since the band broke up, but she thought Freddy was still serving in the juvenile detention centre.

"I get every other weekend out," he said softly. Instead of taking Marta's hand and shaking it, he wrapped his arms around her back. "I am so, so sorry, Blondie," he said, using the band's old nickname for her.

Marta couldn't help but nestle her cheek into his shoulder. Freddy was one of her oldest and closest friends, and it felt good to be in his arms at the moment. She couldn't help it - a tear escaped and ran down her cheek. "It's been four days... you would have thought I'd be over it by now," she whispered into his shoulder. "But look at me, still blubbering away."

"Don't." He leaned back and wiped the tear off her cheek. "Don't ever feel like you can't cry, around me or otherwise. I cried a bit too, actually, when I found out."

"Thanks," she said, sniffling a little.

Freddy glanced over his shoulder and noticed the long line building behind him. "I should keep moving," he said, "but I'll find you after the ceremony, and we can take a walk and talk, all right?"

She nodded, and Freddy moved on to talk to her brother.

"Now we will have Amelia's daughter, Marta, sing for us," announced Reverend Burns.

Marta numbly stood up and went to the front of the church. The music came on, and she began to sing.

"When I think back on these times  
And the dreams we left behind  
I'll be glad 'cause I was blessed to get  
To have you in my life  
When I look back on these days  
I'll look and see your face  
You were right there for me..."

As she reached the chorus, she began to get choked up. It was difficult to get the words out.

"In my dreams I'll always see you

Soar above the sky  
In my heart there'll always be

A place for you for all my life  
I'll keep a part..."

She couldn't keep singing, it hurt too much. Tears were flowing freely down her face by then. She whispered, "I'm sorry," into the microphone, set it down, and walked out of the sanctuary. She couldn't keep going like this. The one person who'd always cared for her, comforted her, kept her secrets, was gone.

"I miss you, Mom," she whispered.

END FLASHBACK

Nikki was anxious to receive her letter. Out of all the members of Eclipse, she was the only one who still hadn't gotten one. She'd written her own ages ago... why wasn't she getting a reply?

And then she did, two days after Leah's. When she finally read the letter, she was shocked.

FLASHBACK

"Please," begged Alicia, "please, just stay open tonight. I really, really need this gig. You can't cancel on me now."

"I'm sorry, my dear, but we have to close. My son is very sick and I must return home to him," explained the Club Kiwi manager, Mr. Ku.

"You said your plane doesn't leave until noon tomorrow!" she cried. "Just stay open until 11:00 pm. I'll do my set and I'll never beg you for anything else again."

"I cannot afford to pay you our full rate," he complained.

"I'll take half-rate!" Alicia cried quickly. "Please, Mr. Ku, I'm desperate. I really, really need this money."

She could hear him sighing on the other end of the phone, and then have a hurried conversation with his wife in the background. Finally he spoke to her again. "All right - we will stay open until 11 o' clock and we pay you half."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Ku!" she exclaimed. "I'll see you at 9:00 pm!"

Alicia had sang until 10:00 pm, and her set was going great. Everyone really seemed to be enjoying her - there were loud cheers and claps after each song. Granted, she was a pretty girl, and most of the audience was middle-aged men... she pushed that thought from her mind.

She was allowed a 15 minute break to get something to drink, head to the washroom, and rest her voice. After taking a couple of drinks from her massive Evian water bottle, she traipsed to the small, dank women's bathroom.

Alicia squeezed herself into a tiny stall. Man, it is so disgusting in here, she thought to herself. If I wasn't getting paid, I would definitely not be here.

Just as she was washing her hands (actually, attempting to get some soap out of the empty dispenser) when she heard shouts and screams coming from the main room. Curious, she yanked open the bathroom door. Smoke immediately poured into the washroom. She coughed and dashed out the door, trying to see where she was going and what the problem was.

Somehow, she managed to get herself outside. Standing shivering across the street from Club Kiwi (it was a rather chilly night) she watched the smoke pour out of the windows, and flames licking at the building's foundation. The fire department showed up in a matter of minutes, and several firefighters hopped out of the truck and began dousing the club with water.

Alicia sidled up to one of the more sober-looking customers. "What happened?" she asked him.

"Ruddy man lit a cigarette while that girl was singing, fell asleep at his back table, and the whole place caught on fire during intermission!" he said, his face shining with sweat.

"Oh my gosh," she whispered to herself.

The man heard her. "That's for sure. Strange, though. I'd originally heard that the club was supposed to be closed tonight - the owner had to return to Japan or something. But at the last moment it stayed open. Not sure why. Bet old Mr. Ku must be pretty upset now, though. If he'd stayed closed, this never would have happened."

Alicia felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. Because of her, this whole place was burning to the ground. Because of her need for money, Mr. Ku was losing his business. Because of her desperate phone call earlier that afternoon, many people would have nowhere to go on a Saturday night. Because of her stupid need to sing, many people had to suffer.

Why do I even bother? she wondered, feeling absolutely horrid.

END FLASHBACK

"So that's it, then," said Aaron at band practice. "That's the whole story."

"Yeah," agreed Carmen quietly.

"This really sucks," Jordan said.

"Now the question is, what are we going to do about it?" asked Dewey. They all looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Nikki wanted to know. "What can we do?"

"Oh, I just had a little idea..." said Dewey, smirking.

**A/N: Well, hopefully this chapter was good and long enough to make up for the insanely long time I've been gone! Like I said, now that I'm almost through with exams and that summer is basically here, hopefully I'll get the rest of the chapters up for you guys soon. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who reviewed my last chapter! You guys rock so much! There was 32 of them, so I can't thank everyone individually, but hopefully I'll be able to thank you all after the next chapter! So, happy reading! Read and review!**


	12. The missing piece

**A/N: Hi everyone! It's good to be writing again - it always is. Most people haven't realized that I'm back and updating, so tell all your friends! Lol. Thanks to my reviewers - I'll post a special thank-you to each of you at the end of the chapter. Enjoy this one - no more flashbacks. This is the 4th last chapter of the story!**

**Chapter 12: The missing piece**

It was nearing the end of the month; only a week and a half was left of Camp Rock. The kids were all starting to realize this, and were rather sad to have to leave their new friends. Rory and Jordan were especially bummed - they'd only just found out they were brothers! On the plus side, Eclipse was progressing quite nicely (their best song being "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers) and they were excited for the concert on Parent's Day, which was 5 days away.

During lunch that day (lunch was fried chicken, fries, coleslaw, bread, and pudding, if anyone cares), Ms. O'Keefe stood up and made an announcement.

"Attention rockers!" she called into the microphone. Aaron sniggered quietly. With her plaid skirt and white t-shirt, Ms. O'Keefe seemed very out-of-place, calling them rockers.

"As you all know, the Camp Rock dance is coming up tomorrow night. Instead of playing 'canned music' all night, as you kids like to say, each band will take it in turn to play 3 songs: 2 faster ones, and 1 slow one. As you've been preparing 4 pieces for Parent's Day, this shouldn't be a problem. So get practicing!" she smiled and stepped down from the podium.

Girls Table 3 immediately began to buzz with excitement. "I totally forgot about the dance!" said Leah.

"This should be totally cool," nodded Nikki.

"Eclipse's first gig!" added Carmen, bouncing in her seat with excitement.

"It's not the gig that's got me excited," said Hailey with a knowing smile at the rest of the table. "It's the prospect of dancing with the boys."

Five out of the six girls giggled slightly, out of excitement, no doubt. But Jenna just surveyed them all moodily. "Come on, don't tell me you guys are actually excited about this dorky dance thing," she said.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" said Marissa.

"Whatever," sighed Jenna, returning to her pudding. The rest of the girls just shrugged.

* * *

The next morning (the day of the dance) Eclipse rehearsal was full of three things: excitement, anticipation, and (what else?) hormones. Everywhere the girls went, they couldn't help giving their hair an extra toss, or apply lip gloss more frequently than usual. The guys spent a lot of their time eyeing the girls in the band, and running their fingers through their hair. All of this annoyed Dewey to no end. 

"Come on, you guys!" he exclaimed. "Stop eyeing each other like you're hamburgers out on display. I've got a surprise for you, anyway."

This got their attention. "A surprise?" asked Jordan. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, there's somebody arriving right about now who I really think you guys should meet," Dewey explained.

"Who is it?" Marissa wanted to know.

"Uh uh, not telling till he gets here," he shook his head.

The kids didn't have long to wait. Soon, a timid knock came at the door to the staff lounge. Dewey jogged over to it and opened it. A boy of about 12 years old stepped in, smiling at everyone (rather nervously, it must be noted). "Hey," he greeted them.

"Dude, come on in!" exclaimed Dewey, pulling the boy into the centre of the room. "Guys, this is Kory Hathaway-Hawkins. Kory, this is Jordan, Rory, Marissa, Carmen, Leah, Aaron, and Nikki," he pointed to each band member as he said their names. They all gave a "hey" of response.

"Now, 'School of Rock' - Kory, you know about 'School of Rock', right? Your mom explained everything?" asked Dewey. Kory nodded, so Dewey continued. "'School of Rock' wasn't a band that ran itself - it had a band manager. That band manager's name was Summer Hathaway. When the band broke up, she went off to Yale. I actually managed to keep in touch with Summer. We didn't lose contact like everyone else. Summer got married to Brent Hawkins, and moved out here, to Long Island - about 20 minutes away. This is her son, Kory. He's the missing piece, as it were."

Everyone blinked at Kory. He began to feel a little awkward. These kids had all known each other for almost a month, and he was a newcomer. But being beside Dewey helped a little.

"Now everyone, Kory's gonna be spending his days here with us. He'll be at the dance tonight, too. So hopefully you'll make him feel welcome," said Dewey.

Marissa stood up from behind her drum set. "Dewey, you sound like a real teacher. Shut up." She walked up to Kory. "Hey, I'm Marissa. My dad was the drummer, too," she shook his hand. Kory smiled, grateful. "I'm Kory - but I guess you already got that."

"You play an instrument?" asked Jordan.

"Nah," Kory shook his head. "I'd like to, but I've never gotten around to it."

"That's all right," smiled Nikki, "you can still hang with us."

"All righty, you've had your chance to chat," broke in Dewey. "Now Kory, you can sit over there, and guys, get back in your positions! No more raging hormones until 11:30 - we have a gig tonight and we need to practice! All right, here we go - 'Highway to Hell', on three."

* * *

That night, the girls were all getting ready in their cabin for the dance. The dance was scheduled to run from 7:00 - 11:00, and it was already six thirty. They had all (well, most of them, anyway) finished getting ready, and were putting on a mini fashion show for the others. 

First came Leah, parading in between the row of bunk beds. She was wearing a jean skirt that stopped just past her knee with a silver chain belt, and a pink halter-top. Her hair was done up in a sort of messy bun, with small pieces tumbling around her face. Her cheeks had the slightest dusting of glitter on them. The other girls all had to agree; Leah looked hot.

Next was Hailey. She bounced up and down the makeshift "runway", wearing trainers, black capris, and a white t-shirt with a black skull across the back. Her hair was down, in loose waves. She had rosy lip gloss on, and coral eyeshadow. She looked really good, very confident.

Carmen was wearing dark blue, almost black, jeans with huge flares. The jeans had silver studs running up the seams on the sides. A red, flowing top completed the look, and she had pulled her hair into a high ponytail. Gold eyeshadow contrasted nicely with her coffee-coloured skin.

Marissa definitely went for a bold look that night: her jeans, a deep royal blue, were held together on the sides with safety pins. Normally, this would look trashy, but somehow, by pairing it with a blue t-shirt, Marissa made it look rock. Her hair was down (the first time she'd worn it down all month) and her eyelashes, with several coats of mascara, looked twice as long. She looked awesome.

Nikki, the shyest of all the girls, surprised them all by wearing a brown leather miniskirt. She had really nice legs, so this worked very well for her. She had a white and brown striped shirt on as well, and her hair was half pulled back. She'd used a dark brown stain on her lips, and she looked extremely outgoing and confident.

The girls spent several minutes ooh-ing and ahh-ing over each other, then Nikki noticed something. "Wait... where's Jenna?" she asked.

Jenna, it turned out, was a lump under the covers on her bed. She lay there doing absolutely nothing. "Leave me alone," she muttered when Carmen yanked back the bed sheets.

"Not a chance," smirked Leah. "You're coming to this dance."

Jenna shook her head. "I don't have anything to wear."

"We'll help you," Marissa decided. "Now, get up!"

"Fine," Jenna agreed. She pulled herself out of bed, where she was immediately yanked towards the closet.

Ten minutes later, the girls in Cabin 3 had totally transformed Jenna. She was wearing a pair of Leah's red flare pants, and one of Marissa's black over-the-shoulder tops. Carmen had pulled her hair up into a bun, with two long strands framing her face. Using a bit of everyone's make-up, Nikki had outlined Jenna's eyes with dark eyeliner (as usual), but had added a rosy colour to her cheeks, and a light peachy gloss. Jenna admired herself in the mirror. "All right," she agreed, smiling what had to be her first smile that month, "I'll go. Thanks, guys."

* * *

The dance was going really well. Eclipse played fourth that evening. Their first song, "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode went over really well - everyone seemed to enjoy bopping along to its catchy, almost-pop beat. It put a lot of responsibility on Aaron, who had a great techno keyboard line. Then the band played "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf, which gave Marissa a real chance to have fun on the drums. Their slow song, "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers, let Leah, Carmen, and Nikki have a lot of fun with the vocals. All in all, the band played a great set.

Later that evening, the band Simulation stepped up and played the song "My Immortal" by Evanescence. Everyone paired off, ready to dance. Marissa watched as Aaron stepped towards Leah, took her arm gallantly, and they walked off onto the dance floor together. Jordan and Carmen were dancing together too - Carmen was a good three or four inches taller than him, so it was rather amusing. Rory asked Nikki to dance, blushing crimson, but she accepted happily. This, of course, left Marissa without a partner. Sadly, she headed over to the refreshments table to ladle herself some punch. Halfway there, however, she got stopped by a voice behind her.

"You want to dance?" asked someone behind her. Marissa whirled around. It was Kory. She had to admit, he looked adorable in khaki pants and a blue button-down shirt.

"Yeah," she nodded. He took her hand and led her over to the crowd. He turned her around to face him, and placed his arms around her waist. Smiling to herself, she wrapped her arms around his neck. Marissa leaned into his chest (he was a good six inches taller than herself) and smiled slightly. She breathed in the scent of his cologne and couldn't remember when she'd ever felt so comfortable.

Meanwhile, Leah noticed something about Aaron: he had wandering hands. She had to adjust herself twice to prevent his hands from going somewhere she didn't want them to. By the third time, she pulled away from him. "What are you doing?" she asked, annoyed.

He looked surprised. "Nothing, I - what's wrong?" he asked, confused.

"Well, stop it." She turned and walked away from him, leaving him very astonished. This was the first time he'd ever had a girl turn him down.

Rory and Nikki, however, were faring much better than Leah and Aaron. Rory was being a gentleman and keeping his hands right where the should be, and the two were talking quietly. "So are you excited about the show?" asked Nikki.

"Yeah, I am," Rory nodded. "It'll be great to see my mom again."

"Are you guys tight?" she asked.

"Really tight," he confirmed. "I mean, it's only been the two of us my whole life. I mean, she's practically my best friend."

"That's sweet," Nikki smiled. She liked Rory - he was sweet and quiet, not loud and obnoxious. That was a good quality in a guy, she thought.

As the music floated around the gym, and Simulation finished up their set, the kids all knew that they had found something very important that summer: friendship.

**A/N: All right, a bit of a corny ending, but I wasn't quite sure how to end it. Sorry. I liked writing this chapter, it was fun. Now, on to my thank-yous!**

**tmrwspromise: You think my story is brilliant! Wow, thanks! blushes like crazy I'm glad you liked the last chapter, it was kind of tough to write (writing sad things are always hard). Enjoy this one!**

**MoonlightPhoenix3: Glad you liked the chapter. Hope this one is satisfactory!**

**quitesirius: I'm glad you're liking the backstory. Dewey and the kids will get everything pulled together - I mean, it's Dewey! Of course he will! :)**

**the devil: Sorry you thought that Tomika, Marta, and Alicia's reasons for quitting their talent were lame, it's what I came up with. But other than that, I'm glad you love it. Enjoy this chapter!**

**maroonedpirate11: Here you go!!**

**ThatJoeyKid: I am so glad you like this story, it's such an honour... I mean, I love yours! Yeah, the rest of the band (Eclipse, that is) and Dewey know that Rory is Katie and Zack's son, and that he and Jordan are half-brothers. But no, Katie never told Zack. But he'll find out eventually! maniacal laugh Please don't hit me with your keyboard, I'll update again soon! :)**

**xobadrhymer03: So glad you like my story! Thanks for the suggestion, but no, Leah isn't Marissa and Freddy's daughter. Sorry. :)**

**So here we go again, me pleading with you guys for reviews... I'd love to get to 200, if you guys would help me out... wink.**


	13. School of Rock

**A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long in getting up.... I had driver's training all this week (yes, somebody actually gave me a licence! What were they thinking? Lol). But now that's over, so it should be smooth sailing from here on in. I decided that this chapter and the chapter after this one could be combined to make a big long one, because it makes more sense. So that means 2 more chapters left, including this one! THIS IS THE ONE YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!!!!!!! Hope you guys like it!**

**Chapter 13: School of Rock**

Plans are good, Carmen thought to herself as she made her way down the path towards the sports field. Well, not all plans. Some plans are pretty evil, but this one, it's great. Almost all the boys (plus Marissa) at the camp decided to play a game of flag football after dinner that night, and of course, the girls were going to sit along the sidelines and watch. Carmen was late because she'd run back to her cabin to grab a bag of Doritos that she'd promised the girls she'd bring.

The plan she was referring to, of course, was Dewey's. Parent's Day was the next day, and all the bands were hard at work preparing their four songs. Eclipse was working especially hard, because they knew now that their parents were amazing on their instruments of choice and they wanted to impress them. Dewey, however, didn't seem to be as into it as the rest of the band. He barely gave any constructive criticism after songs were through, and while they played, he often didn't pay attention. Aaron had even played the keyboard line of "Just Can't Get Enough" during "Under the Bridge" to see if Dewey would notice. He didn't. In fact, after they ran through their songs that day, Dewey commented on how well each of them had played.

"Give it up, Dewey!" cried Aaron. "You weren't even paying attention. We're not stupid. Now what's going on?"

Nikki nodded in agreement. "Yeah, come on, tell us!"

Dewey looked at them. "Well.... I'm not sure if I should."

"Come on, man! You've gotta!" exclaimed Carmen.

"All right," he decided. "I had this plan..." and he explained his plan to the kids.

Jordan was the first to crack a smile. "Dewey, that's awesome!"

"It'll be totally cool!" said Leah in excitement.

"Do you think it will work, though?" asked Rory, a thin line appearing between his eyebrows in worry.

"I think so," Dewey told them, "as long as we can make sure that all your parents will be there. Can you guys call them tonight and make sure they're coming up?"

Everyone nodded, excitement written across all of their faces.

"This is gonna be great!" cheered Kory.

The game of flag football was already underway when Carmen reached the sports field. She hurried to her friends' sides and sat down. There was at least 18 people on each team, but the players didn't seem to care. Jordan, Marissa, and Kory were on the team with an extra player (due to Marissa) and they called themselves The Ramones. Rory and Aaron were on the other team, calling themselves Led Zepplin.

"What did I miss?" Carmen asked.

Leah shook her head. "Nothing much. The game just started."

"Ooh, Doritos!" Hailey exclaimed, and reached over to Carmen, taking the bag. "Yum!"

"Hey, come on now, share!" said Nikki, laughing.

The game progressed quite well after that. The Ramones were leading by three points, when Jordan was given the ball to kick. He kicked it down the field, and Kory leaped up to catch it. He managed to grab it out of the air, but when he landed, he landed on his ankle. It crumpled beneath him, and he fell onto the grass. Immediately Dewey (who was playing referee) blew the whistle, and everyone gathered around Kory.

"Are you okay?" asked Rory, concerned.

"Yeah," nodded Kory, "I'm fine."

Leah offered him her hand, and he took it, beginning to stand up. But his ankle wouldn't hold him, and he collapsed back onto the field with an "ah!" of pain.

"You most definitely aren't all right," said Dewey. "Can I get someone to take him up to the nurse's cabin?"

Nobody replied right away. Then - "I'll take him." offered Marissa.

"No way!" cried Jordan at once. "Without Kory, the teams are finally even! If you leave too, we'll be one player short!"

"Yeah," nodded Nathan, a boy from Jordan's cabin, who was also on The Ramones. "Get one of the other girls to take him."

"Whatever," said Marissa. She pulled Kory up onto his good ankle, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and they hobbled off the field.

"Is she really gonna leave like that?" asked Aaron in disbelief.

"I guess so," shrugged Carmen.

It took Marissa and Kory fifteen minutes to reach the nurse's cabin, on account of his ankle. Right before they went inside, Kory said, "You didn't have to take me, you know. We could've gotten someone else to, you should have kept playing."

"Come on," she snorted, "I wasn't gonna leave you there all by yourself. Besides," her voice took on a softer tone, one Kory had never heard her use before, "I wanted to."

He smiled. "Thanks."

Finally, Parent's Day arrived. People were to start arriving at one o' clock, and the concert was supposed to start at two thirty. Everyone in Eclipse was really nervous now. What if something happened, and their plan didn't work? But Dewey didn't let them take on such a negative attitude. During rehearsal that morning, he spoke to them all.

"Now listen, you guys," he said. "You've all put a lot of hard work into this band, and I'm really impressed with each one of you. You're all really talented on your instruments, and I'm positive that your parents are going to be really proud of you when they see you up on stage. And don't worry about the plan - that's my job. All you have to do are to keep your parents apart from each other as best as you possibly can before the concert. Remember, don't talk about the plan. They can't know ahead of time, otherwise they'll try and back out. If they want to talk about 'School of Rock', fine. If they want to see each other, well, try and distract them. But if you can't, don't worry about it. Everything's gonna be fine." Dewey concluded, smiling around at all of them.

After lunch, all of Camp Rock gathered in the field by the parking lot, waiting for their parents to arrive. The first band member's parents to arrive was Rory's mom, Katie. She hopped out of her car and ran over to meet her son. They hugged, and Rory couldn't help feeling a tear start to build up in his eye. He pushed it away and looked up at her, surprised to see one in her eyes, too. She smiled down at him. "How're you doing, kiddo?"

"I'm pretty good." he told her. Rory lead her away to show her his cabin.

Next came Nikki's mom, Alicia, and her father. They were really happy to see each other, and Nikki took them away as quickly as possible to see the lake.

Marta, Leah's mother, and her father were next. The family talked about a mile a minute, and Dewey, watching them, couldn't help but laugh. It didn't seem like they were moving, so he caught Leah's eye. Realizing this, Leah quickly shepherded them away.

A bit of a problem occurred when both Jordan's dad Zack and Marissa's dad Freddy arrived at the same time. Dewey knew that Zack and Freddy had been best friends back in the day, and he didn't want them to see each other right away. Jordan and Marissa quickly ran over to their fathers and pulled them in opposite directions.

Aaron's father, Lawrence, and his mother pulled in not too long after, and Aaron and Lawrence shook hands rather formally. Dewey noticed this formality, and was surprised when Lawrence looked down at his son, and then pulled him into a hug. Lawrence wasn't used to hugs, Dewey could tell. They were taken away then.

Finally, Carmen's mom Tomika, and her father arrived. Carmen and Tomika hugged excitedly, and Tomika spent a good three minutes talking about how good and happy Carmen looked. Beaming, Carmen took her to show her the staff lounge.

Dewey felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned around. Looking at him was a friend he'd talked to, but hadn't seen in a long time. "Summer," he said happily.

"How're you doing, Mr. S?" she smiled mischievously, and then pulled him into a hug. Unlike the other parents, she knew what was going on, and what Dewey's plan was. "You think we can pull this off?"

"I'm sure of it," he nodded.

By two thirty, the outdoor amphitheater in the middle of the camp was absolutely packed with parents, kids, and camp staff. You could feel the energy and excitement in the air as everyone took their seats and waited for the concert to begin. Finally, Ms. O'Keefe strode out onstage.

Tapping the microphone, she spoke. "Parents, welcome to Camp Rock! It's been a great month here - everyone has been having a blast! Your kids are all very talented, and each band has put a lot of time and effort into their performance pieces. Never before have I seen such a dedicated, hard-working, enthusiastic bunch of children. And now, let the concert begin! May I announce the first band this afternoon - Vertical Allusion!"

The concert progressed quite well - all the bands were in top form that afternoon. They had played selections from AC/DC, Led Zepplin, Deep Purple, The Clash, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Steppenwolf, The Doors, KISS, The Ramones, The Rolling Stones, and The Who. Everyone was having a great time. Finally, it was Eclipse's turn - last on the program, just as Dewey had wanted. The seven of them walked out onto the stage and took their positions. Aaron looked around at them all, and then began his keyboard line for "Just Can't Get Enough". Then, smiling, in came Jordan and Rory on guitar and bass, and Marissa on drums. Finally, Leah started singing:

When I'm with you baby

I go out of my head

And I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough

All the things you do to me

And everything you said  
I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough

Then all three of them sang:

We slip and slide

As we fall in love  
And I just can't seem to get enough of

Nikki took over, continuing the song:

We walk together

We're walking down the street  
And I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough  
Every time I think of you

I know we have to meet  
And I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough

The three of them continued:

It's getting hotter

It's a burning love  
And I just can't seem to get enough of

Here they took a break for the normal lyrics, allowing Rory, Jordan, Marissa, and Aaron to have fun on their instruments. The vocals repeated "I just can't get enough" over and over, with harmony. Then Jordan, Rory, and Aaron cut out, leaving just Marissa on the drums. Carmen continued the next verse:

And when it rains

You're shining down for me  
And I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough  
Just like a rainbow

You know you set me free  
And I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough

All the instruments came back in, and the three girls sang:

You're like an angel

And you give me your love  
And I just can't seem to get enough of

Another instrument break followed this, and then the girls repeated "I just can't get enough" over and over. Finally, they faded out. Immediately, the auditorium burst into applause. Eclipse had played an awesome opener! They then played "Magic Carpet Ride", which had Leah played the tambourine as well, followed by "Under the Bridge". They finished up with "Highway to Hell". They could see their parents grinning madly at them from their seats all over the amphitheater. Their parents were proud of them, and the kids all knew it.

Eclipse walked offstage and, instead of Ms. O'Keefe, Dewey Finn himself came onto the stage, right up to the microphone. "Hey everyone, what's up," he said to the audience. "My name's Dewey Finn. Not many of you probably recognize me, but I was once the lead singer and guitarist for a band called 'School of Rock'." Peering around the curtain, Jordan could see his dad's eyes go wide. Dewey continued, "How many people have heard of 'School of Rock'?" Surprisingly, the majority of the audience's hands went up, including, Kory noticed, all the ex-band members'. "Now, I've got a surprise for you. In the audience right now are all the members of 'School of Rock', and they're gonna come up and play for us!"

Total silence.

Then Dewey spoke again. "First we have Zack Mooneyham, our guitarist. Stand up, Zack." Zack did so, in complete disbelief.

"We have Lawrence Stewart, our keyboardist. Where are you, Lawrence?" Lawrence stood up too. He and Zack eyed each other, smiling slightly.

"We have Freddy Jones, our drummer. Freddy? Stand up!" Freddy stood, and he met his best friend's, the friend he hadn't seen in almost twenty years, eyes.

"Katie Johnson is our hardcore bassist. Come on, Katie, don't be shy!" Katie rose slowly. She glanced at Lawrence and Freddy, but carefully avoided Zack's gaze of surprise.

"Tomika Davidson is our amazing vocalist. Stand up, Tomika!" She did as she was told, smiling shyly.

"Another of our awesome singers, Marta Taylor. You know what to do, Marta," She did - she stood and faced her band members of so long ago.

"We also have Alicia Jennings, our third and final vocalist. Where are you, Alicia?" Alicia stood as well, and shared a glance with her friends.

"And finally, we have the glue - Summer Hathaway-Hawkins, our band manager." Summer stood too, waving at everyone.

"Now come up here, 'School of Rock', and give us one heck of a show!"

The seven band members began making their way to the front of the audience. Dewey was surprised. He was sure they'd put up at least a little resistance. But once he saw the looks on their faces, he could see what was going on; they were in shock. Zack was the first to reach him. Dewey handed him a guitar. "Go do your stuff, man," he said.

"But Dewey, I haven't played in forever!" whispered Zack, and the others nodded in agreement. "I don't even know if I remember how to!"

"Just trust me," Dewey whispered back. Mutely, the others took their places onstage. Freddy rolled up his sleeves and ran his hands through his too-neat hair, mussing it up a little. Zack untied his tie and left it draped over both shoulders. Katie pulled her hair from her ponytail and let it fall free around her face. Lawrence removed his suit jacket, Tomika took off her sweater cardigan (she had a t-shirt underneath), Marta pulled her hair down too, and Alicia put on her sunglasses (instead of her normal glasses). "Now let's get out there and melt some faces!" cried Dewey loudly. He took his guitar, and began playing the first notes of a very familiar melody - the 'School of Rock' song.

Before they even knew what was happening, Lawrence, Freddy, Katie and Zack had joined him in playing, too. The singers couldn't help themselves - they began the dance that they hadn't done in twenty years. Then Dewey began to sing.

Baby we was making straight A's,  
But we was stuck in the dumb days,  
Don't take much to memorize your lies,  
I feel like I've been hypnotisized.

And then that magic man he come to town,  
Whoo wee!  
He done spun my head around,  
Said recess is in session,  
Two and two make five,  
And now baby I'm alive,  
Oh yeah, I am alive!

He continued with the chorus, and Marta, Alicia, and Tomika backed him up with "ooh la la la".

And if you wanna be the teacher's pet,  
Well baby you just better forget it,  
Rock got no reason, rock got no rhyme,  
You better get me to school on time.

Dewey went into his crazy solo. Katie couldn't help but laugh, remembering all the good times the band had had together. What on earth could have made her stop playing like this? She felt totally at ease, totally at home up on the stage. Tomika stepped up with her mike, and belted out the familiar words:

Oh you know I was on the honor role,  
Got good grades and got no soul,  
Raise my hand before I can speak my mind,  
I've been biting my tongue too many times.

Dewey took over:

And then that magic man said to obey,

Do what magic man do,  
Not what magic man say.

He switched to his speaking voice, clearing his throat:

Now can I please have the attention of the class,  
Today's assignment...

All the band members yelled out, remembering the first time they'd ever performed this song at Battle of the Bands...

KICK SOME ASS!

Dewey returned to keep singing:

And if you wanna be the teacher's pet,  
Well baby you just better forget it,  
Rock got no reason, rock got no rhyme,  
You better get me to school on time.

And if you wanna be the teacher's pet,  
Well baby you just better forget it,  
Rock got no reason, rock got no rhyme,  
You better get me to school on time.

Oh yeah!

The music died down again, and Freddy tapped out the rhythm on his cymbals. He couldn't believe how amazing it felt to be playing again. He suddenly felt bad for everything he'd done to make the band split up. What had he been thinking? Lawrence's keyboard solo was next. He played it with total confidence, pointing his finger as he had done so many years ago. This, he thought to himself, is incredible!

Dewey then began to speak the final words of the song:

This is my final exam,  
Now ya'll know who I am,  
I might not be that perfect son,  
But ya'll be rockin' when I'm done.

Zack leaped forward to play his solo, surprising himself at the amount of confidence he had. He hadn't played 'School of Rock' in around twenty years, but every note, every chord came back to him as if it were a regular band rehearsal in Dewey's apartment. He grinned in spite of himself, thinking of how his father would react if he saw him playing again. But it really didn't matter. He was back onstage, playing guitar!

The band played the final notes of the song, guitars wailing and cymbals crashing. All of them were grinning from ear to ear. Their kids, backstage, couldn't believe what they were seeing. Their parents were real, live rockstars! And they were awesome! Zack turned his head a little and caught Jordan's eye. That's the moment when he knew what a mistake giving up his guitar had been, and when he knew that he'd never take a break from it again.

**A/N: Well, there you have it! SCHOOL OF ROCK PLAYED AGAIN!!!!!!! Yay! :) Hopefully that didn't disappoint any of you. Hope you totally enjoyed it! By the way, none of the songs or band names (except Eclipse and Vertical Allusion) belong to me. As if! Now to my shout-out thank-yous:**

**flatfoot-92: Thank you!**

**tmrwspromise: Yeah, I wanted to introduce Kory at a time when I could really get him and Marissa together! Well, sort of. Glad you like my story. And reviews can never be too long!**

**MoonlightPhoenix3: Yeah, that's what summer camp was like for us before the dance, too. I mean, you put 6 or 8 girls together in a cabin getting ready for a dance... what do you expect? :)**

**the devil: Nice to meet you! So glad you like my story! :)**

**jen2007: Thank you!**

**ThatJoeyKid: Hey I checked your fic and you changed your name! I like your new one, it's cute. Thanks for the info about "Broken". Hope chapter 13 lived up to your expectations!**

**gabwr: Thanks!**

**Briana: Yeah, I've read almost every interview I can with the SoR guys, and my DVD will probably be worn out soon, I've watched it so much! No, I haven't heard anything about a sequel, but if they have any sense, they'll make one! :) Glad you liked my fic!**

**Kirstin-RockNRoll: Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it!**

**x0RockNRoll0x0: Here ya go! :)**

**A/N: Read and review, guys... the faster and the more you review, the sooner the final chapter gets up!**


	14. Epilogue

**A/N: Wow, everyone! This is the final chapter of "School of Rock: The Second Generation". It's actually pretty sad - I'm going to miss writing about Jordan, Rory, Aaron, Kory, Marissa, Nikki, Leah, and Carmen! They're my own creations - my babies (lol). But no matter - more fics will come, I promise! I wanted to get this last chapter out for you guys today because I'm off to the cottage for a week and will be without a computer. But for now, sit back and enjoy the final chapter!**

**Chapter 14: Epilogue**

Freddy leapt down off the stage, completely exhilarated. He couldn't believe how great it felt, being up there onstage once again. The children's concert was over, and Keisha, Freddy's wife, ran over to meet him. Flinging her arms around his neck, she cried, "Oh my God! Freddy! You guys were incredible! I had no idea you were that good!" He grinned and hugged her back. All of a sudden, he felt something small come pelting into his side. Looking down, he saw Marissa clinging to his waist. Freddy realized with a start that this was the first time she'd willingly hugged him since she was about six.

"So I guess you're not such an uptight stiff anymore," she said, pulling back.

"Guess not," he agreed.

Marissa studied him for a moment, and then said, "I still can't believe you said my drums are noise, though."

At this, Freddy couldn't help but laugh. Trust Marissa to remember every little picky thing he'd said to her. "Pretend it never happened," he told her.

"Hey, that thing you did with the drumsticks was pretty tight. You know, that twirly thing?" she said.

"Dewey taught that to me when I was ten. I'll teach you when we get back to New York," Freddy promised.

Carmen could hardly contain her excitement. As soon as Tomika set down her microphone, Carmen was at her side.

"Mom, that was amazing! You looked so cool up there!" bubbled Carmen, bouncing around, full of energy.

Tomika gave her a small smile. "Thanks. But what about you? Your band was great!"

Carmen shrugged. "Yeah, we were good, weren't we? But who cares about that - it's you guys that stole the show! I'm proud of you, Mom."

Tomika could feel a blush start to creep up over her cheeks. "Hey, you're the daughter, I'm the mother. You're not supposed to be proud of me."

Carmen smiled and hugged her mom. Her voice muffled by her mother's side, she said, "I know."

Meanwhile, Aaron was still having a tough time getting used to the idea of his workaholic father as an intense rocker. Eventually, Lawrence approached him, smiling ever so slightly. "You played very well, Aaron," he told his son proudly.

"Me?" exclaimed Aaron. "Ha - you can play circles around me! You're so good, I totally had no idea! I guess I've inherited your talent, huh? That's so cool! We could even play together, in some sort of family band. Well, maybe not, cause that would be lame. But still, this is just too great! And all this time there was, like, this keyboard prodigy in the house and I never knew! This is so cool, how come you never told me? You made me feel so stupid for wanting to take lessons in the first place! You should have told me that you did this stuff too when you were my age. I mean, yeah, it's a little weird to see you all rocked out and stuff, cause you're always so uptight -"

"Aaron?" Lawrence interrupted, giving his son a smile.

Aaron paused for breath. "Yeah Dad?"

"Can it."

At that moment, Dewey's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Would all the members of 'School of Rock' and 'Eclipse' please report to the staff lounge - NOW," he drawled.

"That's us, is it?" asked Marta.

"Yup," agreed Leah.

The two of them set off in the direction of the staff lounge, vaguely aware that others were walking behind them. They were silent for a little while, and then Leah decided she had to say something.

"Hey Mom?"

"Mm?" asked Leah.

"I'm sorry about Grandma."

Marta felt her eyes prickle, as if she were about to cry. She wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulder for a minute. "Thanks."

"You were really brave, you know. Singing at her funeral, I mean," Leah ventured carefully. She didn't want to keep talking about it if her mother didn't.

"Not really," admitted Marta. "I mean, I ran out halfway through. How's that for brave?"

"I would have done the same thing," Leah told her.

"I guess it was just all too much," Marta decided.

They reached the top of the hill, and there was the staff lounge, with Dewey standing proudly in the doorway. He waved at the approaching procession of parents and kids. It made him feel a little funny inside, to know that he had brought this all about. Sure, with help from the kids and Summer, but still. It was - kind of cool.

"Come on in, guys!" Dewey exclaimed, and stepped back to let everyone in. They filed in and seated themselves around the room, exchanging happy glances with one another and saying a few words to Dewey.

"Now," Dewey began. "This was your first show in a long time, 'School of Rock', so I'm gonna take it easy on you. But it should be pointed out that Zack, you played at least six wrong chords, Freddy, your sixteenths were off by about half a beat, Lawrence, your solo moved too slow, and Alicia, I think you hit a couple wrong notes during the 'Ooh la la la's." He grinned at them all. "And somehow, you've never sounded better."

"I would proudly like to introduce everyone!" he continued. "Here we have Lawrence - a fine accountant, with his son Aaron, the keyboardist. This is Alicia, a grade seven teacher, with her singing daughter Nikki. We've got Katie, the manager of a bookstore, with her rockin' bass player son Rory. Here we have Zack, an established criminal lawyer, and his shredder, Jordan. This is Freddy, a financial advisor, with his totally punk daughter Marissa. We have Tomika, a pediatrician, and her daughter with her mom's amazing pipes, Carmen. Here's Marta, a high school English teacher, and her very talented daughter Leah. And last but not least, we have Summer, former band manager and now Long Island's representative to the White House, and her way cool son Kory. This is the band now. Make it last."

And then Dewey walked off to the corner of the room to start fiddling with a dead mike, obviously leaving them to mingle. Everyone hesitated for a moment, and then the kids jumped into action. They knew their parents hadn't spoken in twenty years, and it was up to them to get the friendships started up again. Marissa tugged her father's (expensive) Ralph Lauren polo shirt, and dragged him over to Kory and Summer. Leah, Nikki, and Carmen herded their mothers together for a good gossip session. Aaron and Lawrence made their way over to Dewey to talk to him for a minute. Jordan and Rory met each other's eyes and pulled their parents together.

At first, Zack and Katie just stared at each other, having difficulty starting up a conversation. Rory could see the fear in his mother's eyes - she knew that she would have to tell Zack. But she didn't know how. Zack, of course, didn't know about Rory being his son. He just patted Jordan on the shoulder and spoke - their first words shared in twenty years.

"Wow, Katie - it is so good to see you again!" he smiled genuinely at her.

She smiled back. "It really is," she agreed.

They fell silent again, and Zack felt he had to say something. "So... where's your husband? I didn't see him down in the crowd."

"Oh," faltered Katie, and she turned very pale. Zack noticed this right away - he was good at picking up other's expressions.

"Wow, this must be a touchy subject. I'm sorry, Katie - I saw your son Rory here and I just assumed..."

"Oh look, Aaron's waving us over!" cried Jordan suddenly, and the two boys ran over to Aaron, who, as far as Zack and Katie could tell, hadn't been so much as looking in their direction.

"Do you want to step outside?" she asked him.

He smiled warmly. "Sure."

The two made their way out the door of the staff lounge, and began to wander along the little path that snaked alongside of it. "Listen, there's something you should know about Rory," Katie blurted out. She figured she'd just have to get it over with.

"What is it?" Zack asked, puzzled.

"The thing is - he's never met his father. Well, actually, that's not true. He just met him," she said, trying to figure out how to word this.

"Oh. I guess it was pretty insensitive of me to bring up a 'husband' then," he said, laughing a little.

"It's okay," she reassured him. "It's just - do you remember when you told me that your father burned your flying-V guitar? What happened afterward?"

Zack thought for a moment, and then blanched. "Wait.... what are you saying?"

Katie gulped. Maybe he wouldn't take it as well as she'd hoped. "See, the thing is... I found out I was pregnant. About a month later."

"Does that mean - are you saying that - is Rory...?" he trailed off, leaving this as a question. Biting her lip, she nodded.

Zack sighed and plopped down on the nearest thing he could find - which just happened to be a rotting log. As soon as he put his weight on it, however, it crumbled beneath him and he ended up in the dirt.

Katie couldn't help herself - she started to laugh. He just looked so funny, sitting in the dirt in his suit... and the expression of shock on his face! "S-s-s-sorry," she said between giggles. She fought to get herself under control. But he laughed too.

"Oh well - just a new suit," he laughed, then patted the spot beside him. She sat down on the ground, surprising him a little. Her outfit looked pretty nice to be sitting in the dirt. But oh well.

"So why didn't you tell me?" he asked, looking right into her eyes.

She faltered for a moment, thrown off-guard at the intensity in his brown eyes. "I - you were so upset with your father, and so worried about college and everything.... I just.... didn't want to burden you with anything else," she said helplessly.

"So you took on the burden of being pregnant for nine months, giving birth, and raising and supporting a child - by yourself?"

She nodded.

"I wish you'd have told me." He looked into her eyes again. "If you had, I would have married you."

At this, Katie couldn't help but chuckle. "Zack, we were seventeen. We weren't even finished high school! We weren't ready - not at all. It would never have worked. Besides, you found Jennifer, and had Jordan. So everything worked out."

Not for you, Zack couldn't help thinking to himself. "But I loved you," he said, biting the corner of his lip.

"I know you did," she said, putting her hand over his. He looked down at their hands, and couldn't help feeling very safe and secure.

"So who else knows?" he wanted to know.

"My parents and my sister, Rory, my friend Lauren in New York - oh yeah, and Rory and the rest of Eclipse, Dewey, and probably all of 'School of Rock' now."

His mouth dropped open. "All of them?"

She nodded, hoping he wouldn't be too upset.

"Well, it happens. They should have found out long ago," he decided.

"You're taking all this very well," she remarked, and got to her feet. She extended a hand to help him up, and he took it.

"Well, I kind of like the idea," he admitted. "So - what's your New York address? I'll want to visit my son, of course."

* * *

It was the last day of Camp Rock. Everyone had packed up their luggage, swept out the cabins, and exchanged email addresses and phone numbers. They all agreed - they had made real friends that summer. Eclipse was already making plans to get together within the next week or so. Parents were due to arrive in about fifteen minutes, and all the campers were milling around, saying last-minute goodbyes to friends and band directors. To everyone's surprise, Kory had shown up to say goodbye as well. After he'd wished everyone well, he grabbed Marissa's hand. "Can I talk to you?"

The two moved off alone - his hand still in hers, Marissa noted happily. Eventually, when they were safely out of sight and earshot of the other campers, he stopped and faced her.

"Did you know that my mom often comes into New York on business?" he said to her.

"Oh yeah?" she said.

"Yeah. So I'll visit lots," he promised.

Marissa smiled at him. "Good - you'd better."

"Now," he said, "I have here -" he handed her a slip of blue paper "my email address, phone number, and home address. If I don't hear from you within five days, I will be very upset."

She laughed. "Well, we must be psychic or something, because I have for you -" she pulled a piece of yellow paper out of her pocket "my email address, phone number, and address for you." Kory took it from her, grinning.

"I'm really going to miss you," she said softly.

"I'm going to miss you more," he challenged her. "I won't get to see you playing your drums every day."

"I'll make tapes," she laughed. Then, through the trees, she saw cars start to pull up the gravel drive, and recognized her father's car. "My dad's here," she said regretfully.

"Okay," Kory said. He leaned over and kissed her. Just a small one, but on the lips. Then with a "See you soon, Marissa," he walked off, back towards the other kids.

Marissa floated back to the car.

"Bye!" yelled many voices in unison - eight of them being the band members from Eclipse.

"I'll write every Tuesday!" promised Nikki, to someone that they weren't quite sure.

"Keep in touch!" Rory called to Jordan.

"Call me, Leah!" Aaron cried.

"Marissa, your dad's hot! Can I come over for dinner?" hollered Jenna out her car window. Marissa's eyes widened, and glanced over at her father. She didn't think he'd heard Jenna - then again, his lips were curving up in a small, I'm-pretending-I-didn't-hear-that smile. Maybe he did. Man, that girl was weird.

And so eight cars crunched out the gravel driveway, each one carrying the members of one of the best rock bands ever, with their promising offspring in the backseat.

* * *

The real epilogue: The members of 'School of Rock' and 'Eclipse' all get together twice a month. They talk, share pizza, listen to records, and jam with each other - parents and children together. Zack took on the role of father to Rory very seriously, and called every evening without fail, visiting every other weekend. Carmen, Leah, and Nikki wrote long, continuous e-mails to each other, detailing every little aspect of their lives. Aaron called Leah several times - but she was only "home" once. And no, Jenna never went to dinner at Marissa's house.

**THE END**

**A/N: (sniff, sniff) This is very sad - the fic has come to an end! I'm very upset, I'll miss writing it. But really, it wouldn't have been half as fun if it weren't for you, my readers! Thank you to EVERYONE who ever read this story, even if it was to read one paragraph. Thank you so much to EVERYONE who took the time to review this story, even if it was just one chapter. And an extra-special thank-you to those couple reviewers who reviewed almost every chapter without fail! You have no idea how great it made me feel to open up my story and see all the wonderful reviews from you guys - you all really make me feel like a writer! It means a lot to me that you guys had so much faith in me. Hopefully I will be able to make you guys as happy on other fics that I write! Oh, and thanks to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. I got so many, shout-outs would take absolutely FOREVER. **

**Now, I hate to ask, but... please review this last chapter! I'd love to know what you thought about this final chapter, and the whole story in general. I'd really like to keep you guys happy in the next story I write, so if you guys wouldn't mind answering the following questions in your reviews...**

**1) What was your favourite chapter and why?**

**2) What was your least favourite chapter and why?**

**3) Which flashback sequence (of which person) did you most enjoy and why?**

**4) Which new character did you most like, and which did you most dislike? (And why)**

**5) What advice do you have for me for any future fanfics I choose to write?**

**And, once more.......................... THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (passes out chocolate chip cookies all around). You guys rock!!!**


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